Midleton development with 36 flats and drive-thru McDonald’s for sale at €7.75m

Riverside Midleton development with fully let apartments, McDonald’s drive-thru, and major commercial scope goes on market for €7.75m

Watersedge, Midleton has four blocks of residential commercial units with current combined annual income of €569,544. Agents Cushman & Wakefield guide at €7.75m for receiver of a BlackBee-related company.

A SIGNIFICANT-sized, mixed-use development in four modern riverside blocks, with 36 apartments, 33,000sq ft of commercial space, multi-storey carpark, and a key anchor tenant — a McDonald’s restaurant and drive-thru — has come for sale in East Cork’s Midleton town with a €7.75m guide.

Listed with agent Cushman & Wakefield is the Watersedge scheme, ambitiously developed in the early 2000s between Midleton town centre and the Enterprise Park, on a former mill site, next to a Lidl.

Aldi present at Watersedge but is separately owned

Watersedge overall includes a thriving Aldi, which is owner-occupied and does not form part of the investment sale.

Selling agents Peter O’Flynn and Siobhan Young, of Cushman & Wakefield, stress the asset management potential of the extensive vacant commercial space — largely in shell and core condition — with scope to repurpose for possible residential use, as well as the existing rental income, now brought to €569,544 combined.

The complex last sold back in 2021, acquired under the BlackBee Investments Group umbrella when it had an income of about €416,000.

The guide price at that time was €5.5m, and it’s understood it was bought by BlackBee for about €5m, reflecting a net initial yield of 6.6% to 7.5% with uplift scope on new lettings and rent/rent pressure zone reviews.

Midelton town centre  just over the river

That rent roll has since increased to €569,544 after the 2024 rent reviews, says Ms Young. All 36 apartments are fully let and all are two-beds, from 65sq m up to 113sq m, or averaging 75sq m overall.

The key asset is the letting to McDonald’s on a 35-year lease from 2004 at an annual rent of €82,500.

Golden Arches

The overall Watersedge development was designed by Cotter and Naessens Architects in 2003 for local developers Jim Colbert’s Heritage Developments (under Mogeesha Holdings) with a masterplan for 20 acres to include flood relief measures.

The development site was unaffected by recent Midleton town centre flooding, and it’s understood that 15 acres — which formed part of the previous sale — are now zoned green infrastructure and as an area of special protection.

The 2025 sale offer spans four buildings: Riverside Mall; Watersedge (a mix of apartments and retail); Mogeesha House (mixed-use); and Enterprise House with separately owned Aldi.

The agents say Watersedge “is conveniently located in Midleton town centre, just 250m from Main Street” across the Owenacurra River by Riverside Walk, and note the overall 33,400sq ft of commercial space ranges over ground, first- and second-floors accommodation. The majority is in core condition “providing asset management and change of use opportunities,” along with extensive surface and multi-storey parking.

DETAILS: Cushman & Wakefield 021-4275454.