Tesco And Thor Equities Deals Put Dublin Logistics Back In Investor Spotlight

Dublin’s logistics market is attracting increasing investment, with U.S. giant Thor Equities making its first acquisition in Ireland and a South Korean investor putting one of the country’s largest logistics assets back on the market.

New York-based Thor Equities has acquired a roughly 11-acre development site at Tay Lane, adjacent to Greenogue Business Park in southwest Dublin. The purchase marks the company’s first investment in Ireland and is part of a strategy to build out its European logistics platform, the company said.

Thor plans to develop around 210K SF of Grade A industrial and logistics space across the site, and Dunquin Capital has been appointed development manager, with the scheme expected to comprise multiple units ranging from roughly 5K SF to more than 50K SF. Construction is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2027, with occupation targeted from the first half of 2028.

The development is expected to include clear heights of up to 15 metres, with the scheme targeting BREEAM Excellent.

Thor and Dunquin are also seeking additional opportunities in the Irish market at a time when development is being constrained by the availability of modern space. Adviser JLL put H1 takeup at 1.2M SF, around 4% below the same period in 2025 but 9% above the long-term average. Vacancy remains between 3.5% and 4%, while another 1.1M SF of space was under offer or in legal review at the end of June.

Thor’s decision to enter the market with a speculative development, rather than acquiring an income-producing asset, suggests investors see that current supply-demand imbalance as now supporting new construction.

Against that backdrop, Cushman & Wakefield has launched the sale of a 788K SF Tesco distribution centre in Donabate on behalf of its South Korean owner, KTB Investments & Securities and KTB Asset Management. The property is being guided at around €165M, putting it only modestly above the €160M paid by KTB in 2019.

The Tesco facility was developed in 2007 and sold in a sale-leaseback transaction before changing hands for €129M in 2014 and €160M to KTB five years later.

Tesco remains the occupier, with its lease running through to 2032 and annual consumer price index-linked rent reviews. The building is used for dry-goods distribution across Tesco Ireland’s national store network.