New Paul Street Shopping Centre owner pledges improved shopping experience for customers
Paul Street Shopping Centre story.
A CORK-based finance specialist is believed to involved in the purchase of Paul Street Shopping Centre, which sold last month for €1.75m. The former banker has been linked to the purchase of the centre, which sold at auction for €200,000 below its guide price of €1.95m.
When contacted by the Irish Examiner for comment he said he was “not the new owner” and that the purchase of the asset was “strictly confidential”. The preference was to “keep our business strictly private”, he said.
He added that the purchasers, private Irish investors, were “looking forward to working with existing and new tenants and improving the shopping experience over time”.
It’s the second time in just over three years that the shopping centre has changed hands, as it was previously sold off-market by O’Callaghan Properties (OCP) to Dublin-based company, Merrycane Ltd.
The vendor this time was Riga Unlimited Company, a fund management company with the same Fitzwilliam Square address as Merrycane Ltd, and a shared director, Brian Linnane. Brian O’Callaghan of OCP was formerly a director with Riga.
The sale included 19 independent retail units, with a total of 14 tenants, within a covered mall area, as well as the large outdoor square, Rory Gallagher Plaza, in front of the shopping centre. It did not include the store owned by anchor tenant Tesco or the 730-space multi-storey carpark, owned by Cork City Council.
None of the tenants in the 19 units will be affected by the sale. Tenants include Lee Travel, Bennetts Shoe Repair, Twilight News, phone shops and a cafe. Five units are vacant.
Current annual rent is €311,500, with a net operating income (NOI) of €283,222pa. The net initial yield is 13.2% (on the NOI) and the net internal retail area is approximately 13,793 sq ft, primarily over the ground floor.
Real estate company BidX1 handled the sale and reported strong interest.
Among those looking were small private investors, small development companies and small asset management companies.
Paul Street is the second Cork shopping centre to be put up for sale in recent times. In January, Cushman and Wakefield sold the much larger Douglas Village Shopping Centre for €23m to Urban Green Private, led by Cork businessman Tom Coughlan.
Paul Street Shopping Centre occupies a high-profile site in the heart of Cork City, just 100m from St Patrick’s Street, with numerous access points, such as French Church Street and Carey’s Lane.
Tesco as the anchor draws consistent footfall” through the centre, while there’s easy access for shoppers from the multi-storey car park.
The shopping centre is in good enough shape, if a bit dated, and there’s scope to increase rental income, by filling the five vacant units.
Paul Street Shopping Centre pre-dates OCP’s Merchants Quay. It opened to shoppers in 1985, and was seen by then city manager, Joe McHugh, as key to the urban regeneration of a part of the city in need of revitalisation, physically, socially and economically.
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