Focus on leasing in on-trade at present
The Parnell Mooney pub near O’Connell Street in Dublin was sold for approximately €1 million to Eddie Fitzgerald who also purchased the freehold investment interest in the Café en Seine premises on Dawson Street during the year.
A number of Waterford’s best-known nightclubs and bars – Ruby’s Nightclub and Lounge, the Woodman Bar, Muldoon’s Pub and Oxygen Nightclub – were sold by the Receiver for a reported €4 million.
Conditions are unlikely to improve to any significant degree this year, states the company in its Commercial Property Outlook for 2011 but then states, “Having said that, we expect to see a notable increase in the volume of transactions in both the hotel and licensed sectors in 2011 albeit prices achieved will have to reflect the reality of the current market situation”.
The licensed sector is likely to be dominated by short-term lease transactions in 2011 with very few sales being
concluded. While there is strong demand for good pubs in high-profile locations, in some cases for alternative uses,
funding remains extremely difficult to source which will continue to compromise transactional activity. Licences are
likely to change hands for approximately €75,000 this year, predicts CBRE.
?Conditions in both the hotels & licensed sectors of the market are likely to remain very challenging in 2011. That said, CBRE expects to see an improvement in transactional activity in both sectors over the course of the next 12 months.