US firm buys converted Gasworks

A US-based property investment firm has acquired Dublin’s converted Gasworks building in Ringsend for €40 million, an average of €190,000 per unit.

At peak, developer Liam Carroll had hoped to sell these from €650,000 to €750,000. Apartments there currently rent for €1,300 per month.

The entire building was put up for sale with a receiver for Ulster Bank last summer, guiding €42m. It has been bought by California-based Kennedy Wilson, partnered by Fairfax Financial who said “we are seeing significant opportunities in the residential space, particularly in Ireland”.

NYSE-quoted Kennedy Wilson owns 14,000 residential units worldwide.

Further block purchases of distressed Irish residential assets were predicted last year by international agents CBRE.