Dublin's Blanchardstown Centre set to be sold for €1bn

The country’s largest shopping centre, the Blanchardstown Centre in west Dublin, is being put up for sale with a price tag of around €1bn.

The retail complex is categorised as a ‘Major Town Centre’ and currently houses 176 stores, 20 restaurant and food outlets, two retail parks and a multiplex cinema.

It is being sold by Green Property, which has owned the asset since its development in 1996.

While the company has not mentioned a potential sale value, it is understood an acquisition price of €1bn, or slightly over, is anticipated.

Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL) and Eastdil Secured are acting as joint agents on the sale and the Centre will formally be released to market early next month.

It has already been suggested it will likely attract the attention of a number of large international investment groups.

Blanchardstown was extended in 2004 and now covers 112,000sq metres — or 1.2m sq ft.

It has four anchor tenants in the form of Debenhams, Dunnes Stores, Marks and Spencer and Penneys and stands on 85 acres, with 6,000 surface car parking spaces.

Crucially, it also has capacity for additional net development in the region of 148,500sq metres or 1.6m sq ft of mixed use zoning, covering retail, office, leisure and residential use.

Planning consent is already in place for a net 25,300 sq metres extension which would allow for 18 more shops (including one major three floor unit), eight external shops/restaurants and a two-storey food court and two underground levels of car parking.

The Centre’s rent roll amounts to €50m per year and the owners said there exists “significant scope” to increase that.

Green Property chairman, Stephen Vernon yesterday referred to Blanchardstown — which has an annual footfall rate of more than 16m people per annum, which is seen as exceptionally strong by European standards — as one of Europe’s most successful and vibrant retail destinations.

He said it is the “optimal time” to transition the Centre to new ownership, “to take advantage of its development potential and capitalise on the recovery phase of the consumer cycle.

“A strong economic backdrop, compelling development potential and the inherent strengths of this asset present significant opportunity for the new owners of this great centre,” he added.