Leonie
Dunne
Partner
Leonie Dunne is a partner in the Commercial Real Estate Group at Matheson and a member of the firm’s Development Land Group.
Leonie practises in all aspects of commercial real estate law, advising on acquisitions, disposals (assets and loans), leasing and licensing of properties. She has a broad range of experience advising on the development, sale and leasing of mixed use and residential developments.
Areas of Expertise
Leonie has acted for a number of leading Irish financial institutions and receivers on the enforcement and realisation of security and has advised on a wide range of insolvency, corporate recovery and restructuring issues arising in connection with the sale and leasing of both residential and commercial properties.
Leonie also has experience carrying out property due diligence in connection with loan portfolios, preparing title reports and advising on rectification of title defects.
Leonie is a member of the Law Society of Ireland and is also admitted in England and Wales. She has lectured and tutored on the Law Society Commercial Property Diploma. Leonie is a member of the Matheson German Group and the Matheson ESG Advisory Group.
Experience and Education
Leonie’s experience includes:
- Advising a large real-estate ICAV in relation to the refinancing of four student accommodation properties comprising approx. 1,350 student beds located on four sites, one in Dublin and three in Cork, total value over €250 million.
- Advising a large datacentre operator on the letting of its new HQ in Dublin City Centre.
- Advising a developer client in respect of its development of a strategic site in County Dublin, to include advising on development finance arrangements, day to day asset management, leasing of retail units, transfer of common areas. negotiating property management agreements and completing Part V transfer;
- Acted for Goldman Sachs on the sale of the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre. spanning 1.2 million square feet of space, 180 stores and restaurants and serving around 16 million visitors annually (the largest real-estate deal of the year in 2024).
- Advised Macquarie Asset Management in relation to its agreement to acquire the Beacon Hospital in Dublin, subject to customary regulatory approvals. The Beacon is one of the most technologically advanced private hospitals in the State, employing 1,600 health professionals and treating in the region of 200,000 patients each year.
- Advised a consortium of financial institutions with regard to the sale for consideration in excess of €280 million of an important strategic development site in the Dublin area, comprising in excess of 500,000 square feet of offices, retail and leisure space, yielding rents of circa €7,500,000.00 per annum, with the balance of the lands designated for development as a town centre with residential units, offices and other uses.
- Advising a financial institution in advancing development finance of circa €20 million to a developer in the construction of a large scale mixed development (to include social housing) in Dublin 2.
- Acting for a large Irish manufacturing retailer in connection with all landlord and tenant issues.
- University of Limerick, Bachelor of Law and European Studies
- Law Society of Ireland, Diploma in Commercial Conveyancing
- Admitted as a solicitor in Ireland
- Admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales (non-practicing)
