Prominent Mayo properties are put up for sale
The Ballina hotel has an asking price of €1.75m and is among 14 commerical buildings for sale in the North Mayo town.
There are more than 300 commercial sites for sale in Mayo but a leading auctioneer has warned that the market will never return to Celtic Tiger levels.
The 309 commercial sites that are currently for sale in the county include agricultural and development land.
There are seven Mayo office spaces available for sale on property website Daft.ie and 20 retail units. A total of 26 bars and restaurants are on the market and 12 industrial units. The remaining 244 properties are classed as commercials sites, industrial sites, agricultural and development land, and investment properties.
The highest number of bricks and mortar commercial units for sale in Mayo are to be found in Castlebar with 16 properties available in the county town. These include high-profile pubs like Cox’s and Paddy Moran’s as well as long-standing shoe store Parson’s.
Castlebar-based councillor Michael Kilcoyne said the high number of town centre premises for sale is concerning.
“People are disappointed and it’s raising concerns about the future of the town,” he remarked.
In Ballina, 14 similar type properties are for sale, including the Downhill Inn on the Sligo Road. With an asking price of €1.75m, it is the most expensive commercial property for sale in the county.
In Westport, 10 commercial premises are for sale, while there are seven in both Charlestown and Swinford and six in Claremorris. An IDA industrial unit in Claremorris is for sale with a €1.2m price tag.
Charlestown-based councillor Gerry Murray believes certain barriers are preventing the sale of commercial sites in the East Mayo town.
“There were a number of pubs but the licences were sold. Another problem is that we have closed down bank branches. You could have someone renting a premises and looking to buy and the local bank manager is gone now. In times gone by the local bank manager would know that person, know their business,” said Cllr Murray.
He added that rising costs and increasing regulations are making it more difficult for prospective business owners.
In May of this year, the reported that there were more than 20 licenced premises for sale or lease in the county. More than one-quarter of Mayo’s pubs have shut their doors in the past two decades.
“It’s well documented that rural pubs are really struggling and they are selling. They are very challenging to sell because the prospect of making those viable businesses for somebody is very limited,” said Mayo estate agent Gerard O’Toole.
He said the commercial market in the county is simply ‘okay’ and will never again reach the market peak.
“It’s nothing like the residential market where values have more than doubled from the bottom of the market. Commercial has never recovered. Those values that we saw in the Celtic Tiger era from 2002 to 2007, they have never come back. They are only a fraction of those values. There were some simply eye-watering values paid across Ireland, the west of Ireland, and Mayo at that time. Those values have never recovered and I don’t expect them to."
