The Eircom Superannuation Fund, the scheme responsible for the pension benefits of current and former Eir workers, is finalising plans to sell the Retail Park at Liffey Valley in Dublin. The scheme, which is located immediately adjacent to the vast Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, is expected to come to the market through agent Bannon in September at a guide price of about €60 million.
Acquired by the then Telecom Eireann SA Pension Fund fund in 1999 from its joint developers Grosvenor Estate Holdings and O’Callaghan Properties at a cost of €57 million (£45 million), the scheme comprises 19,000sq m (205,514sq ft) of retail accommodation distributed across 12 units and a drive-through restaurant along with 550 free surface car-parking spaces. The tenant line-up includes Sports Direct, EZ Living, Jysk, The Range, PC World, Halfords, Maxi Zoo, CarpetRight, Harry Corry and McDonald’s.
The Retail Park is located just off junction 7 of the M50 motorway and is positioned next to the landmark Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, which is home to the largest Marks and Spencer in Ireland. It is also located next to B&Q’s largest Irish store (9,290 sq m/99,997sq ft) and the new Tesco Extra, which is Tesco’s largest Irish store (5,574sq m/60,000sq ft).
The proposed disposal of the retail park at Liffey Valley comes just over three years on from the sale for €26 million by Aviva and Irish property company Iput of the nearby B&Q store to the French fund Inter Gestion REIM.
Located on a stand-alone 9.26-acre site, the store extends to 119,213sq ft (11,075sq m) with an ancillary garden centre of approximately 29,000sq ft (2,694sq m), as well as builder’s stores and a service yard. The unit also benefits from a large surface car park comprising 552 spaces.
Liffey Valley Shopping Centre meanwhile was acquired by its current owner, the German public pensions group Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK), for about €630 million in 2016.