Court awards Dunnes Stores 50% cut in rent
15 May 2013
A Circuit Civil Court has cut the rent paid by Dunnes Stores on the retail floor space of its George’s Street, Dublin, head office by 35%. In cutting the rent the retail chain pays to Layden Properties George’s Street Ltd, Judge Jacqueline Linnane said the rental for basement storage, offices and ancillary space would also be cut by 50%.
Dunnes Stores operates 10,500sq ft of retail floor space in the 125-year-old listed building it also uses as a head office. Judge Linnane said: "The economy is in recession, there is a high rate of unemployment and there has been a fall in retail sales and a decline in consumer spending."
The review reduces the pre-existing rate for the retail area of €50 per square foot by 35% to €32.50 per square foot. Ancillary office and storage areas, amounting to 54% of overall 23,000sq ft space, were cut by 50% from €15 to €7.50 and from €10 to €5 respectively.
Judge Linnane said that when reviewed previously by the court in 2006, the rent amounted to €693,000 a year. Experts for Dunnes told the court that the rent should be around €225,600 per year, while the landlord’s experts claimed that it should be €717,000 per annum.
Earlier this month, the High Court approved reinvestment plans for B&Q and Pamela Scott – saving 777 full and part-time jobs at 20 locations across Ireland – after the stores had been placed into examinership.
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