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Appeal No. VA05/2/008
AN BINSE LUACHÁLA Toni & Guy (Naas) Ltd. APPELLANT RE: Shop at Lot No. 4.10.9A.11.12.13.14/ Unit 19 &
20, Dublin Road, B E F O R E JUDGMENT OF THE VALUATION TRIBUNAL By Notice of Appeal dated the 11th day of April, 2005, the appellant appealed against the determination of the Commissioner of Valuation in fixing a rateable valuation of €115.00 on the above described property. The Grounds of Appeal as set out in the Notice of Appeal are: At issue Test Case The appeal proceeded by way of an oral hearing held in the Offices of
the Tribunal, Ormond House, Ormond Quay, Dublin, on the 1st June, 2005.
At the hearing the appellant was represented by Mr. Eamonn S. Halpin,
B.Sc (Surveying), ASCS., MRICS., MIAVI.. The respondent was represented
by Mr. Denis Maher, M.R.I.C.S., a Valuer, Grade 1 in the Valuation Office.
The Property Tenure Valuation History Appellant's Case He drew attention to certain amendments to the text of his précis
of evidence, as follows: Mr. Halpin then summarised the basis of his client's Appeal referring frequently to his written submission. He indicated that, in his view, the estimated NAV had been excessive since first assessed by the Valuation Office and particularly when considered by reference to the NAV applied to the larger brand name stores along the Main Street of the development, occupied by traders such as Marks & Spencers, Lifestyle Sports, Boots and others. He contended that the Revision Officer had erred by failing to make sufficient allowance in his estimate of Net Annual Value of the subject when its location is considered within the overall Naas Town Centre development. Mr. Halpin considered that the appropriate euro rate per sq. metre to estimate the Net Annual Value should be €164 and €82 respectively for Zone A and Zone B in the subject, which in turn would support his calculation of RV of €75, the figure sought in his Notice of Appeal. Mr. Halpin contended that there was a pattern of evidence to be considered which indicated that the Net Annual Value established on some of the units within the Naas Town Centre development essentially correlated to a fraction or percentage of the Rents passing on a number of units in the range of approximately 25% of the latter values. He also expressed the view that the Valuation Office, in this case, had failed to adopt the established Tone of the List for Naas in general and the Poplar Avenue and Sallins Road areas of the Naas Town Centre development, in particular. In summary, Mr. Halpin sought by way of remedy, a reduction in the assessed Net Annual Value applied by the Commissioner of Valuation to a level commensurate with the physical location of the unit within the Centre and its general location at the edge of the town centre of Naas. He described the general layout of the Naas Town Centre with the major traders agglomerated and fronting to the Dublin Road, secondary traders to the Sallins Road, and additional secondary traders and service providers within eight units in total fronting onto Poplar Avenue, which serves as a service road providing entry to the multi-storey Car Park to the rear and to the adjoining exit road. He noted that many of the inner Centre units within the development were mainly at first floor level and that a number of the upper floor office and commercial units continued to remain unoccupied. He acknowledged that though trading activity at the Naas Town Centre was doing reasonably well, much of this may be attributed to the proximity of the Dublin Road units to the large Tesco store nearby, but that the secondary businesses located on Sallins Road and Poplar Avenue were challenged by the absence of any substantial footfall and/or pedestrian traffic. He noted that the Landlord in the Centre had confirmed to him that the 565 spaces within the multi-storey Car Park of the Centre had yet to operate to levels in excess of 50% occupancy. Mr. Halpin argued that the Centre in general was disadvantaged due to the absence of an anchor grocery multiple store, indicating that the Marks & Spencers unit on the Dublin Road was a small, limited service retail unit. Mr. Halpin also highlighted the fact that the subject property, though located within a terrace of other like new retail units, was further disadvantaged by virtue of its location as there were no retail units located across the street on Poplar Avenue. Mr. Halpin referred to the 20% allowance apparently calculated by the Commissioner to differentiate between the value of the prime located units fronting the Dublin Road, and the subject on Poplar Avenue, and considered such an allowance to be insufficient, particularly when considered in the context of the much lower rental value passing on the two locations within the same Town Centre development. Mr. Halpin provided the Tribunal with rental evidence in support of his argument. He repeated again his approach to calculating an appropriate value on the subject by correlating estimated Net Annual Value to Passing Rents in the Centre indicating a range of 20 - 24%, (excluding Marks & Spencers) and stated that the percentage rose to approximately 55%, if the Commissioner's estimate of NAV were to be applied to his method of calculation. He reinforced his argument by referring to his précis of evidence, Page 9, Section 4, attached herewith as Appendix 1. Mr. Halpin then introduced other comparisons, namely two premises on Main Street being Spar, occupied by a Mr. Donal McCafferty, and Donal's, being a general convenience store, also located on Main Street and occupied by a Mr. Donal Curran, both of which were set out in his précis and attached herewith as Appendix 1. Spar comprises of ground floor area of circa 233.38 sq. metres, with circa 43 sq. metres of Zone A shop space, and Donal's comprises of gross floor area of circa 147 sq. metres, with circa 47 sq. metres of Zone A shop space. The former has a calculated NAV of €310 per sq. metre, by agreement prior to Appeal Hearing in 2004, and the latter at €275 per sq. metre per Revision of 2003. Furthermore, Mr. Halpin in his submission devalued the total retail areas of these two comparisons comprising of Zones A, B and C in each, with additional residual shop space in the Spar building, and concluded devalued figures of €154.10 per sq. metre and €136.07 per sq. metre for these two Main Street units. Cross-examination Mr. Maher contended that the comparisons employed by Mr. Halpin on Page 9 of his submission (see Appendix 1) could not be considered useful or relevant without the provision of much more information in terms of the configuration and size of the units noted. Mr. Halpin, in reply to a question, indicated to Mr. Maher that a number of other properties within the Centre were currently under review by the Valuation Office and that the decision of the Commissioner was not yet known and so the RV was not truly established. Mr. Maher queried Mr. Halpin on the contents of Pages 8 (see Appendix 2) and 9 (see Appendix 1) of his written submission and in reply Mr. Halpin claimed that the Valuation Office had failed to comply with the 2001 Valuation Act by not referring to or adopting the appropriate Tone of the List. Mr. Halpin acknowledged that if the subject relevant property was commanding a rent in the region of €70 - €80 per sq. foot per annum, then in his view a Zone A applied Rental to calculate NAV of about €246 per sq. metre might be correct, and again re-stated his opinion that the Tone of the List must rely on and relate to Passing Rents. Respondent's Case He drew attention to the fact that customers could drive their cars and park in front of the subject unit or nearby free for a period of one to two hours and after that period at the same cost as those parking on Main Street. He stated that the shops on Sallins Road and Poplar Avenue enjoyed good pass-by pedestrian traffic. He noted that the subject double unit enjoyed considerable frontage of circa 16.01 metres and 10 metres of secondary frontage at the rear and that the unit, in common with those adjoining it, benefited from good front-to-rear depths. Mr. Maher stated that the unit was well finished and might be considered better finished internally than many of the older units on Main Street. Mr. Maher contended that Mr. Halpin's reference to Passing Rents in the context of estimating NAV was irrelevant, as the Act essentially required adoption of the "Tone of the List". He advised the Tribunal that he had considered rental levels applied to retail units opposite the Naas Town Centre on the Dublin Road, to retail units at an existing Shopping Centre on the Kilcullen Road, and to shop units on the Sallins Road, all as set out in Section 4 of his précis of evidence. He argued that the units on the Dublin Road provided a clear indication of established Zone A levels in the immediate area, which were circa €300 per sq. metre and were marginally below the levels of €315 - €355 per sq. metre, i.e. Zone A examples on Main Street and Sallins Road adjoining Poplar Square, with the higher levels achieved at the latter location. He cited the Centre on the Kilcullen Road as inferior to the subject, which was reflected in the Zone A established rate there of €246 per sq. metre. He identified a Zone A figure of €218.75 per sq. metre at a tertiary location in shops on New Row. He contended that the level of €250 per sq. metre for Zone A and €125 for Zone B applied to the subject was fair and reasonable, which in turn produced a total NAV adjusted to November 1988 of €22,812.50, which devalued at an average of €233.50 per sq. metre overall on the subject property and produced an RV of €115. His précis of evidence included a summary of four comparison properties, the first being eight units on the Dublin Road opposite the Town Centre, the second being the aforementioned units at Kilcullen Road, and the third and fourth being two shops on the Sallins Road all as set out in Appendix 3 to this Judgment. Mr. Maher again stated that he did not consider Mr. Halpin's comparisons useful and reminded Mr. Halpin that he had, in his opinion, acted fairly and reasonably by adopting a rate of €250 per sq. metre on the agreed Zone A area of 84 sq. metres of the subject, and stated that he considered Mr. Halpin's second Main Street comparison property, namely Donal's, to be a particularly poor comparison given its inefficient floor layout and its centrally positioned shared lobby. Mr. Maher confirmed that Passing Rents did apply in the practice of Valuation but are not the primary indicator used for statutory rating purposes. Cross-examination A discussion ensued between the Valuers citing references to other locations such as The Moat Shopping Centre with overall applied Rental Rates of €315 per sq. metre based on unit depths of approximately 10 metres, which might generate Zone A Rates of €340 - €350 per sq. metre. Findings & Conclusion 1. The as yet to be well established trading activity of the Naas Town
Centre development, in the Poplar Avenue area in particular. Determination Net Annual Value Calculation: And the Tribunal so determines. |