Experience

Ruairí advises on a varied range of real estate transactions in Ireland, representing a client base spanning institutional investors and asset managers, developers, lenders, student accommodation providers, semi-state bodies and private corporates.

His experience spans traditional property acquisitions, disposals, lettings and asset management mandates through to bespoke forward-commit structures and one-off development transactions. 

Ruairí has led on a number of high-profile PRS and social and affordable housing transactions, from initial structuring (including the deployment of alternative corporate structures such as ICAVs, QIAIFs and limited partnerships) and site acquisition, through to development financing and ultimate disposal / acquisition. 

He also has in-depth experience in property-backed loan sale transactions and is frequently also involved on real estate aspects of corporate / M&A transactions.

Key highlights include advising:

  • Activate Capital on the provision of debt finance to Gem Group on development of The Willows, a residential development site on the outskirts of Dublin with planning permission for in excess of 1,100 homes.
  • Ardstone Capital on the acquisition, financing, development and disposal of a number of residential developments. Ruairí was centrally involved on an investment by CBRE GIP into a new Ardstone fund targeting affordable housing geared towards social, affordable and private tenants at multiple Ardstone-controlled developments (total commitment €450m).
  • Chancerygate a UK-headquartered developer and asset manager specialising in logistics and industrial warehousing assets, on its acquisition of a site at Swords Road, Santry, close to Dublin Airport.
  • daa plc (formerly Dublin Airport Authority) on negotiations with Arora Hotels (following a public tender process) for the development, operation and leasing on a long-term basis of a new terminal-linked hotel at Dublin Airport Terminal 2, with a reported €100m construction value.
  • Global Student Accommodation Group a leading global provider of student accommodation, on the acquisition and development and management of a number of its Irish locations, including a transaction involving recapitalisation and refinance on a substantial portion of its Irish portfolio, for a reported value of c.€400m.
  • Hammerson plc on leasing instructions at Dundrum Town Centre, Ireland’s largest and leading retail destination.
  • Lone Star / Quintain Ireland on the acquisition, development and financing of a zoned residential land bank at Portmarnock, North Dublin, with capacity for circa 1,100 homes in total. Ruairí’s involvement has extended to engagement with utility providers and the local authority with respect to the delivery of key development infrastructure and amenity space serving the development.
  • M&G Real Estate on a number of Irish property acquisitions, including the forward-purchase acquisition in February 2023 of Eglinton Place, a high-end PRS apartment complex in Dublin 4, for a reported price of €99.5m.
  • Marlet Property Group one of Ireland’s leading property developers, on a number of significant acquisition and financing mandates, most notably a €384m facility with AIG and Activate Capital completed in March 2023, funding the development of over 1,000 apartments across two separate sites in Dublin.
  • OPKO Health, Inc. on the recent disposal by its Irish subsidiary, Eirgen Pharma Limited, of a large-scale “fill and finish” pharmaceutical facility in Waterford to Horizon Therapeutics, for a reported €54.5m.