Meyer Bergman partnership spends €90m on Central Dublin high street assets

European fund manager Meyer Bergman has invested more than €90 mln in partnership with an Irish fund to acquire three high street buildings in central Dublin.

The partnership between a Meyer Bergman fund and BCP International Property Fund announced on Monday that it had exchanged contracts to acquire the properties from a fund managed by Aviva Investors.

The block of three buildings is located on the western corner of Nassau Street and Dawson Street, opposite Trinity College. The 1970s buildings currently provide 9,400 m2 of space and parking for 125 vehicles. The shop units are occupied by Tiger Retail, House of Ireland and Millenium Gourmet Foods. The purchase is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2016.

Meyer Bergman will own the majority share, with Dublin-based BCP Private Equity and BCP International Property Fund together committing to take up a third of the project.

The new owners are looking at multiple options for improving and adding value to the asset. The site is low density and could accommodate up to 18,600 m2 of extra space through a combination of extensions, redevelopment or refurbishment, Meyer Bergman said.

Blake Loveless, a principal at Meyer Bergman, said, 'Ireland offers some of the strongest growth prospects in the Eurozone and this asset is superbly located in Dublin’s prime shopping district, with direct access to Grafton Street. We see plenty of asset management opportunities for the buildings, given the shortage of large retail units in the area and the considerable appeal of the Dawson Street address to office occupiers.'

London-based Meyer Bergman is a privately held real estate investment management firm. It advises three closed-ended, value-add real estate funds with approximately €3 bn of assets under management on behalf of global institutional investors. The firm is headquartered in London.

BCP International Property Fund is managed by BCP Asset Management, a Dublin-based fund manager with over €1.5 bn in assets under management.