German investor pays €75m for Sutton new homes scheme

Union Investment has amassed portfolio of 735 high-end apartments across three Dublin developments

An aerial view of the Seafield Strand scheme in Sutton, Dublin 13
An aerial view of the Seafield Strand scheme in Sutton, Dublin 13

The German investor Union Investment has paid about €75 million for a portfolio of 140 apartments built by developer Michael Cotter’s Park Developments in the north Dublin suburb of Sutton.

The price paid for the Seafield Strand scheme equates to an average of €535,714 per unit, and the transaction is Union’s third investment in Ireland’s private rented sector (PRS) market.

Located just off the Carrickbrack Road and between Church Road and Offington Park, the Seafield Strand development comprises six residential blocks with a total of 140 apartments and a preschool. The apartments consist of 108 two-bedroom units with the remaining properties made up one and three-bedroom apartments. Union Investment has acquired the Seafield Strand portfolio for its open-ended real estate fund, UniImmo: Europa.

Commenting on the completion of the deal, Union Investment’s head of asset management for Europe, Christiane Bührsch, said: “Seafield Strand was built to high quality and sustainability standards. Given the good quality of the property and its location in addition to Ireland’s growing population overall, we expect demand for the apartments to be high in the future.”

READ SOME MORE

Union Investment entered the Irish residential investment market in 2021, paying just over €200 million for the 8th Lock scheme, a portfolio of 435 apartments and a health centre developed by Sean Mulryan’s Ballymore Group at Royal Canal Park in Ashtown, Dublin 15. The price paid equated to an average of €459,770 per unit.

The Hamburg-headquartered real estate investor deepened its involvement in the Irish market again last year, paying €76.25 million for the 140 apartments developed by Glenveagh Properties at Newtown Gardens in the south Dublin suburb of Blackrock. While the price paid on that occasion equated to an average of €544,642 per unit, it should be noted that the portfolio included an underground parking garage with 67 car-parking spaces and a further 30 surface parking spaces.

Ronald Quinlan

Ronald Quinlan

Ronald Quinlan is Property Editor of The Irish Times