Huge interest in retail at latest auction from Allsop

The top retail price was seen for Greenhills Retail Park (GRP) as its €1.5m was at the lower end of the €1.5m to €1.6m guide quoted by the auctioneers.

A mixed use building extending to 2,572.2 sq m, GRP has three retail tenants, including a Centra store and one office tenant with combined rent reserved of €177,384.

However after abatements the rent currently being collected totals €144,000. Its three vacant units are a ground floor retail unit, a floor of offices and a car showroom. Located at the junction of Airton Road and Greenhills Road, the property also came with 43 car parking spaces.

A fully let group of units at a Drogheda shopping centre sold for €715,000.

While this was well over the €380,000 - €420,000 guide price range, it reflected a very generous yield of 15.54pc gross yield.

Units 2-8, Wheaton Hall Shopping Centre, Dublin Road, Drogheda, Co. Louth, has a current reserve rent of €111,120. Extending to 864 sq m, it is let to four retailers, two takeaways and a crèche.

Competitive bidding pushed down the yield on a Mount Merrion furniture shop to less than 6.9pc.

Extending to only 182 sq m on the ground floor, the premises at 69 Deerpark Road, Co Dublin sold for €385,000. It is let to Manhattan Interiors trading as Top Drawer at a current rent of €26,400 per annum.

The highest price achieved for a single Dublin retail investment was the €630,000 paid for a Ballymun pharmacy - well above its €390,000 - €435,000 guide price range.

Unit A/B on the ground floor at the Civic Centre, Main Street, Ballymun, Dublin 11 extends to almost 203 sq. m (2,185 sq ft) and is let to IPOS Retail 24 Limited trading as Edward MacManus Pharmacy.

While the contractual rent is €95,750 per annum, the current rent passing is €48,000 a year suggesting a gross yield of 7.6pc. The lease provides for rent reviews every fifth year and is not due to expire until 2041.

In a somewhat surprising contrast, a shop in Dublin's Temple Bar sold for €210,000 which was within the guide price range of €200,000 - €220,000. Let to retailers trading as Memories Bridal Boutique for two years from January 2014, it is generating a current rent of €20,000 a year suggesting a gross yield of 9.5pc.

Located at 19 Parliament Street, the 88.29 sq m premises is arranged over basement and ground floor.

Possible reflecting its longer lease, a much stronger price was also seen for a ground floor cafe in Greystones, Co. Wicklow, which sold for €650,000 - just over its €580,000 - €620,000 guide.

Let to Redcoral Catering Ltd t/a Insomnia, it is generating a rent of €58,000 a year suggesting a yield of 8.9pc. The lease on the 72.9 sq m premises will expire in 2032.

In Wexford town a mixed use property at 41 North Main Street, sold for €650,000 or double its guide price. This four storey building extending over 233.5 sq m has its ground floor and part first floor let to an O'Brien's Sandwich Bar generating a rent of €50,000 a year. Most of the upstairs office space is vacant.

On the other hand three retail warehouse units in Wexford along with a 0.54 acre site were unsold.

The properties at Clonard Retail Park on the edge of Wexford town have a guide price of €625,000 to €675,000. Units 2 and 3 are generating total rents of €181,603.

A Baldoyle, Dublin 13 property generating €51,000 in rent sold after auction for around €500,000 which was towards the very top of its guide price range.

Located at 14 Main Street, Baldoyle, the 192 sq m property accommodates two ground floor tenants, Paddy Power and Giulio's Takeaway, while its two bedroom first floor apartment is vacant.

If the apartment was let, the combined rent roll could well total €60,000 a year, suggesting a yield of 8pc.

In Wicklow Town the Bridge Arcade on Bridge Street, sold for €510,000, well over its €380,000 - €420,000 guide. Comprising five retail units and two apartments, it is generating a rent of €52,600. While this suggests a gross yield of 10pc, it could be even higher were a vacant retail unit and a vacant flat let.

Located on a prominent corner, the premises extends to 603 sq m.

In the seaside town of Skerries, Co. Dublin, two shops with an overhead apartment sold for €360,000.

The three units at 100 & 100A Strand Street generate a combined rent of €33,000 a year which equates to a gross yield of almost 9.2pc

Each retail unit extends to 74.3 sq m while the two bedroom flat extends to 88.2 sq m. The guide price was between €210,000 and €240,000.

A premises partly occupied by a dentist at 3 Meath Street, Dublin 8 sold for €280,000. That is about €50,000 over its guide price.

Its ground floor extends to about 624 sq ft and is let to the dentist. The 667 sq ft first floor accommodates a two bedroom flat and the combined rent is €29,400 suggesting a yield of 10.5pc.

A vacant former restaurant/take away unit with two apartments at

65 Upper Dorset Street, Dublin 1, sold for €350,000 which was within its €325,000 - €375,000 reserve range. Extending to 352 sq. m it is situated on the eastern side of Dorset Street Upper towards the junction with Eccles Street and Temple Street.

Surrounding occupiers in the area include Spar, Ladbrokes, Temple Street Children's Hospital and The Mater Misericordiae University Hospital.

Overall, properties under the hammer at the latest Allsop Space auction had total reserves of some €60m.

Reflecting the mis of properties on the market at present, about 50pc of all lots that were for sale on Tuesday were Dublin-based.