Appeal No. VA94/1/021
AN BINSE LUACHÁLA O'Mahony Murray & Company APPELLANT RE: Shop at Map Reference: 40/41/42, Townland: North
Main Street, B E F O R E JUDGMENT OF THE VALUATION TRIBUNAL By Notice of Appeal dated the 9th day of May, 1994 the appellant appealed against the determination of the Commissioner of Valuation in fixing a rateable valuation of £440 on the above described hereditament. The grounds of appeal as set out in the Notice of Appeal are that:- The Property: North Main Street is a secondary street in Cork. It is a long street and contains a mixture of shops, restaurants, banks and a building society. The street is narrow and traffic goes one way. Car parking is restricted but there is a new multi-storey carpark with 419 spaces recently opened by Cork Corporation. Valuation History: Written Submissions: In the written submission Mr. Costello gave details of the property, its location and valuation history. He set out his calculation of the rateable valuation of the subject premises as follows:- The total shop area is 9,324 square feet. The storage area is 6,435
square feet. Estimate of N.A.V.: R.V. £70,200 x 0.63% = £442 Say = £440.00 Mr. Costello offered 5 comparisons as follows:- 1) Allied Irish Bank 3) Restaurant - Ground Floor 4) Betting Shop 5) Gaunt & McCabe Mr. Costello indicated that the devaluation of these rateable valuations yielded rates per square foot between £12-£17 and £20 per square foot. The rate on the Zone A portion of the subject premises is £20 per square foot. No written submission was provided by the appellant. Oral Hearing: Mr. O'Mahony set out his case by reference to the recent transactions affecting the history of the premises. It appears that Value-Point Supermarket Limited took over the premises on the 1st January, 1990 for a rent of £60,000 per annum on the usual repair and insurance covenants. Value-Point have since gone into liquidation and the owners have the property for sale at the moment in a vacant condition. By January 1990 it appeared probable that a municipal carpark would proceed in the marsh area which would have been of considerable benefit to the subject property. The Tribunal heard from Mr. O'Mahony that after considerable buffeting in several directions the local authority eventually decided upon a multi-storey carpark overhead Dunnes Stores which is further down the street. Car parking on the street is restricted to one hour and it is one way. There is no public transport. Car parking and taxi use converges on the Dunnes Stores carpark and it appears that in the final days of trading that Dunnes Stores were able to compete very successfully to the detriment of the trading in the subject. Exceptionally, North Main Street, where the subject is situate, is not the subject of urban renewal incentives Mr. O'Mahony considered that the situation in November 1988 would not have been as hopeful in relation to the prospect of car parking and that rents would have been less than those motivating the £60,000 secured in January 1990. Mr. O'Mahony ventured an opinion that the rent attainable for the property
now would be £30,000. There was an asking price of £550,000
for the property but if £425,000 was achieved it probably would
sell. Mr. Costello argued strongly for maintaining the tone of list by accepting his valuation of the property. The Tribunal, however, accepts that the development of Dunnes Stores and the continued buoyancy of other shopping streets show that the subject area has been somewhat eclipsed. Mr. Costello countered that the Michael Murphy premises had recently been refurbished and that this would not be done if matters were as depressed for the street as Mr. O'Mahony had argued. Determination:
|