EXCLUSIVE: New Blanchardstown Owner SVP Pledges To 'Invest Heavily' In Landmark Mall

Blanchardstown Centre owner Strategic Value Partners has pledged to “invest heavily” in Ireland’s largest mall, with plans to expand starting with a 35K SF food and beverage destination, an improved car parking offer and a new bus transit station with direct links to Dublin city centre.

Speaking exclusively to Bisnow after the Dublin Real Estate Outlook 2025 event on Thursday, SVP Managing Director of Commercial Real Estate Anders Hemmingsen said that the company was in discussion with architects about the design of the new food and beverage area, which will consist of a mix of dining options, including local Irish brands.

“We don’t want it to be a boilerplate mall F&B offering,” Hemmingsen said.

“We want to move on this immediately,” he said, adding that SVP would ideally like to make the scheme larger. “The F&B expansion has preexisting planning permission, but we’d like to work with the local authority to discuss some possible tweaks to that as well.”

Hemmingsen said the company had been looking at opportunities across Western Europe ahead of the acquisition of Blanchardstown and had been attracted by the keen valuation of circa €560M from a motivated seller. 

“Being able to achieve that price has given us the financial headroom to take what we view as a great asset and invest in it to make it world-class,” Hemmingsen said of the deal. “Although retail has become far more popular among investors, there remains very little liquidity for major shopping centres, so we viewed this as a real opportunity.”

In February, SVP also acquired Falcon AM, the company asset-managing the 1.2M SF Blanchardstown, in a move designed to ensure that it could take a hands-on role in its development of the centre.

“I feel Blanchardstown is of a size to justify having a team that wake up every morning thinking only about that one asset,” Hemmingsen said.

SVP invests across asset classes, and in 2023, it became the largest investor in Intu SGS, a portfolio of four large UK shopping centres, and played a lead role in restructuring the business. While Hemmingsen said that the company continues to scout opportunities in Europe, it is looking at all types of real estate, not just retail, including potential further acquisitions in Ireland.

“Undoubtedly, there has been a retail rebound,” he said. “However, that is not a rebound across all retail centres. What we’re seeing is the major global retailers consolidating around the best shopping centres, so the recovery is going to be very uneven, and that was another attraction for us around Blanchardstown.”

Hemmingsen was part of a retail-focused panel for Bisnow’s event and said during the session that the U.S. tariffs announced the previous day could impact retail margins and tenants’ ability to pay rent.

“We have seen strong occupancy rates, and rebased values have allowed us to come in and invest,” he said.

“People haven’t built assets because the ROI has not been there, but buying at that price has enabled us to improve the scheme. Asset selection is key.”

He said that while Hammerson’s combination of residential and retail at Dublin's Dundrum Town Centre was a “great idea” and that there were opportunities to increase floor plate density through using car park space or air rights, that did not stack up financially at Blanchardstown right now.

Aviva Ireland Head of Property Suzie Nolan said retail has become very attractive again, with vacancy rates down across assets and strong occupier demand, with more international brands entering Ireland. She pointed to the recovery on Grafton Street as an example, citing vacancy rates of 25% in 2021 and 3% to 5% now.

“We see the same in retail parks, which we believe are poised for rental growth,” Nolan said. “Previously, [the retail market] was heavily dependent on subsidiaries of UK retailers, and CVAs had a big impact. Now that has flipped on its head. Less than 20% of Irish retail is from the UK, with far more international brands, meaning we have a lot more diversification.”

In terms of the longer-term outlook, she pointed to an “overshopped” UK and said that Ireland had not replicated that model, so the current stock was in good shape, but she said asset management was needed to bring up the offer and mix.

On adding a residential component, Nolan called the concept a “win-win” because new residents would bring additional footfall to a centre. But she stressed the need for development in a live retail environment to be carried out carefully.

Despite the threat of tariffs on consumer confidence, Sigma Retail Partners Managing Director Marcus Wren said the Irish consumer “had never been wealthier” and said that retail assets were having a “good run so long as sensibly priced.”

In late March, Sigma announced the sale of eight retail parks across Ireland owned by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management to Realty Income Corporation for €220M, including The Square in Dublin.

“I still feel there is more to go on that portfolio [in terms of asset management], and during the sales process, Homebase and New Look went into liquidation,” Wren said. “Each asset needs to be managed case by case. Retailers have always gone bust, and in some cases, we want them to go bust to take away dead-weight retailers. That also allows us to change rents. We love when useless retailers go bust.”

With limited new retail being built, Wren said the focus needed to be on existing schemes and how they expand. He said that older centres with large surface car parks could offer opportunities for new homes.

“The retail market is more robust than after the first crash, evidenced by the demand for Homebase’s stores,” Cushman & Wakefield Ireland Head of Retail Karl Stewart said. “That absorption shows robustness, and from different categories. Likewise, the New Look space is already being absorbed. Argos more recently has been absorbed. We have to be mindful of how far we push rental growth. Building steadily and being more in it for the longer term is the way forward.”

Bisnow's next Dublin event, the Ireland Hotel Outlook, is to be held at The College Green Hotel on 15 May.