Allsop Space, the auction house that specialises in the sale of distressed properties, has lined up 34 commercial properties with a combined reserve of around €9.7 million for sale at its next auction on May 15th.

The firm has been steadily building up its commercial sales and at its last auction on March 13th it sold 47 lower value commercial properties with reserves of €5,192,00 and an overall turnover of €6,479,000.

Next month’s auction in Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel will have a good mixture of apartment blocks, holiday homes, shops and retail investments.

The catalogue, due to go online on April 17th, will have 124 commercial and residential properties with reserves of €16 million.

The reserve prices set for most of the commercial properties due to go under the hammer underline the fact that secondary assets have fallen in value by considerably more than prime properties in cities and large towns.

For the first time the reserve prices for some of the commercial properties going to auction will be set within specific price ranges, depending on the level of interest in them.

Robert Hoban, director of auctions, said the new arrangement would facilitate greater flexibility while maintaining full transparency.

Brittas Bay complex
A reserve price of €625,000 to €675,000 has been set for the sale of the well known McDaniel's bar, restaurant and holiday complex at Brittas Bay in Co Wicklow.

In addition to living accommodation with 10 bedrooms, the sale will include eight two-bedroom chalets and eight three-bedroom holiday homes, as well as 18.75 acres of land.

Allsop Space has indicated that there will be a reserve of €1.2m to €1.3 million when it auctions 10 retail units alongside Dunnes Stores in a shopping centre at Cardiff Bridge Road in Finglas, Dublin 11.

All 10 individual shops are let at a combined rent of €251,993. Five of the tenants have been in situ since the 1990s, once since the 1980s and another since the 1970s.

Also in north Dublin, four commercial properties are to go under the hammer on the large Ongar housing estate.

A reserve price of not more than €250,000 has been set for the auction of Kelly’s Lounge bar which extends to 596sq m (6,416sq ft). A rent of €65,000 has been fixed for the premises.

Close by a 87sq m (947sq ft) Polish supermarket, ERA Foodstore, currently rented at €19,000 per annum, has a reserve of not more than €130,000.

Also in Ongar, a laundrette extending to 128sq m (1,383sq ft) and occupied under a lease running until 2030 at an abated rent of €17,000, will have a reserve of not more than €130,000.

The fourth Ongar property, a 139sq m (1,500sq ft) office building in shell and core condition will have a modest reserve of only €35,000.

Former supermarket
At Clonskeagh in Dublin 14 the reserve will not exceed €250,000 when Allsop Space auction a former Spar supermarket (177sq m/1,995sq ft) which is currently vacant at The Concourse at Roebuck Road and Fosters Avenue.

Investors looking for value are also likely to consider a serviced hotel/apartment complex with 30 two-bedroom units known as Riverside Suites Hotel in Sligo town. The complex, including a bar, reception room and gym, will have a reserve of not more than €145,000 and will be sold with vacant possession.

In Cavan town, there will be a reserve of €1.5 to €1.7m when two blocks of apartments with a total of 60 units go for sale at the Dublin auction. Currently 25 of the apartments in Farnham Court, opposite Cavan Hospital, are rented and are producing €127,000 per annum.

Also for sale is a two-storey retail premises in Dungarvan, Co Wexford, occupied by a Specsavers franchisee at an abated rent of €22,200. The lease runs until 2021 and the reserve will not exceed €160,000.

Another building with a Specsavers franchisee comes on the market at West End, Mallow, Co Cork, where the reserve will range between €225,000 and €250,000.

The tenant pays an abated rent of €37,000 on the shop while two overhead floors of offices are vacant.

In Kilkenny, a reserve of €575,000 to €625,000 has been set for the auction of the Shoe Zone shop in the Market Cross shopping centre. The premises are held on a 10-year lease from 2010 at a current rent of €90,000 per annum.