North Cork’s Charleville Shopping Centre for sale at €3.5m, a fraction of €20m build cost

Charleville Shopping Centre, once 88% empty, is now 80% occupied and seeking €3.5m, offering investors strong rental returns

Charleville Shopping Centre opened in 2008.

CHARLEVILLE Shopping Centre in North Cork, billed as a substantial town centre investment opportunity, is on the market for €3.5m, a fraction of the €20m it cost to build it.

The 45,000sq ft centre (4,197 sq m) is 80% occupied under various leases and generates an annual rental income of c €520,000.

It’s the third time the centre has come to market since it opened in 2008, but its fortunes have improved significantly since it last changed hands in 2018. Back then, 15 of its 17 retail units had never traded, representing an occupancy rate of less than 12%. Solas Financial bought it from receivers Deloitte in 2018, after it was brought to market for €1.9m.

While the centre had suffered from bad timing — it was completed just ahead of the 2008 crash — Solas Financial has improved occupancy rates. Now, all but three of 13 retail units are occupied and all but two of nine offices. David McCarthy, divisional director of Sherry FitzGerald Commercial, said that new owners could potentially look forward to an annual rental income of €610,000, once the centre is fully tenanted.

“The property presents a unique opportunity to acquire a substantial mixed-use investment with extensive asset management opportunities and an estimated rental value in the region of €610,000 per annum upon full occupancy,” Mr McCarthy said. The agent also said the €3.5m guide price “reflects a net initial yield of 12.2%, assuming standard acquisition costs”. The average lease length to expiry is 10.8 years and 2.8 years to break.

The purpose-built commercial property includes 13 retail units, a café, an empty restaurant unit, nine office units, and a two-bed duplex apartment, which is tenanted and unaffected by the sale. The anchor tenant, Dunnes Stores, along with Elverys Sports, own their own stores and are not part of the sale.

Existing tenants include Insomnia, Lloyds Pharmacy, St Gabriels Foundation, RDF Architects, DNCF Civil Engineers, Go Pluz, and DV8.

The development has the benefit of a multi storey car park with 450 car parking spaces, which Mr McCarthy said serves as the primary off-street car park for the entire town “and generates footfall through the centre”.

The agent said the centre serves as the main commercial hub for the local community and has an annual average footfall in excess of 750,000 customers. The centre is fully managed and the common areas have recently undergone a full refurbishment.

Charleville Town Centre was developed on a four acre site, acquired in 2004 at a reported site cost of €4m by Beaux Walk Properties (BWP) and completed in 2007 by Barry Boland of BWP Charleville Ltd at an estimated cost of €20m, with funds provided by the IBRC (formerly Anglo Irish Bank).

The first time it was offered for sale was back in 2014, when the guide was just €950,000 all-in, but it failed to find a buyer at that stage in the recovery cycle.

The centre, billed as a “substantial, purpose-built commercial town centre investment opportunity” is strategically located, just off the heavily trafficked Main St in Charleville, which is close to the Cork-Limerick border. The town is 60km north of Cork City and 40km south of Limerick City and has a population of approximately 3,970 (CSO 2022).

Charleville train station is within walking distance, and bus services link the town centre to both Cork and Limerick.

Total retail accommodation at the mixed-use centre extends to around 31,900sq ft and the office accommodation extends to 13,200sq ft.

The retail units front onto a part-covered pedestrian street which has access from Main St to its western end and Bakers Lane to its eastern end. The retail units range in size from 811sq ft to 5,900sq ft and have the benefit of extensive glazing onto the main open-air retail thoroughfare/plaza.

Seven office units front onto Bakers Lane. The self-contained units are fully fitted and laid out over ground and first floor level. They range in size from 752sq ft to 1,046sq ft. The other two office units are situated on the first floor and are c 2,852sq ft and 3,000sq ft.

Mr McCarthy said there is an opportunity to secure a tenant for the available restaurant unit, which extends to 3,000sq ft and is located between Elverys Sports and Dunnes Stores.

DETAILS:
David McCarthy,
divisional director,
Sherry FitzGerald Commercial, 6 Lapps Quay, Cork
021 4270099
[e-mail]