New investment fund purchases 131 apartments at New Bancroft Hall in Tallaght
By Brendan Grehan
A NEW PROPERTY investment fund has purchased 131 apartments at New Bancroft Hall in Tallaght from Park Developments for more than €30 million.
The newly formed Dublin Artisan Development Fund set up by Bill Nowlan has purchased the portfolio of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.
The apartments will be let out. MD Property Management, which is handling the lettings, expects that more than 30 per cent of the apartments will be let to social and affordable tenants.
The fund’s anchor investor, the Irish Strategic Investment Fund, has taken a 48 per cent stake. Mr Nowlan and his cofounder, Frank Kenny, are leading a syndicate of high-net-worth investors to make up the balance of the equity.
The aspiration is to scale the fund so that it can become a significant player in addressing the shortage of affordable rental accommodation, particularly in Dublin.
The fund is unlikely to be a direct developer of sites, but will consider the pre-funding of suitable projects – providing a secondary market for residential developers.
One target area is schemes where State land is made available to deliver quality mixed tenure communities of private, affordable and social housing in line with the objectives of the Government’s Rebuilding Ireland plan.