Hibernia Reit grows Dublin holding with €27m deal for IRFU farmland
LISTED landlord and developer Hibernia Reit has acquired 92.5 acres from the IRFU for initial price of €27m.
The land, located in the Newlands Cross area of west Dublin, is currently zoned for agricultural use.
However, if the land is rezoned within the next 10 years the IRFU will be entitled to an additional payment equal to 44pc of the market value of the lands at that date, minus the initial purchase price, and subject to certain minimum payments. Hibernia Reit also announced the completion of its acquisition of 5.8 acres in the same area for €1.7m, taking its total interests there to 143.7 acres.
Hibernia chief investment officer Richard Ball said the close proximity to Dublin city centre, the Luas Red Line and the M50 and N7 motorways made it “an ideal candidate for mixed-use development, including a large element of infill residential”.
Prior to its latest acquisitions, Hibernia held 45.4 acres of land at Newlands Cross, comprising the 14.1 acre Gate- way industrial/logistics site which it acquired in 2014 for €10m, and a further 31.3 acres of adjacent agricultural land which it purchased in 2017 for €6m.
While Hibernia Reit’s acquisition of the Gateway site in 2014 surprised some in the market, the €10m price its paid represented more than a 93pc discount on the €107m it previous owners, Dublin brothers Gregory and Anthony Alkens, paid in May 2006.
They had planned to develop a huge number of apartments and offices on the site but planning permission never materialised. Under the South Dublin County Council development plan, the site may be used for industrial, retail warehousing, car sales, transport depots and petrol stations.