Maplewood owner pays €230m for UK office block

InShort: Michael Whelan, owner of the housebuilding company, Maplewood Homes, has paid €230 million (£160 m) for Victoria House, a 27,870 sq m (299,989 sq ft) office block in London.

About 80 per cent of the space is let, part of it to the UK's Competition Authority. The German owner, housebuilder Garbe, has spent considerable funds in recent years upgrading the building.

The sale came at the end of a week when Garret Kelleher of Shelbourne Developments fronted the purchase of the Lloyds Building in London for €345 million (£230). The rent roll in this case is understood to be around €24 million per anum.

Investor pays over €2.5m for guest-house, retail building on George's Street

A private investor has agreed to pay in excess of €2.5 million for a guest-house and a retail investment at South Great George's Street in Dublin 2. Hamilton Osborne King had been quoting a guide price of over €1.8 million for the property, which forms part of the South City Markets.

The four-storey over basement Victorian building includes a shop at number 26 let to Living Quarters at a rent of €47,500 per annum. The rent was set in 2001 and is highly reversionary, according to the agent. The guest-house on the upper floors includes 16 en suite bedrooms, a reception area, kitchen, guest sittingroom and a diningroom with seating for 26 people. There is also a separate manager's apartment on the top floor.

Seven-storey office block planned at junction of Mespil and Burlington roads

Dublin city planners are considering a new planning application for a high rise office building at the junction of Mespil Road and Burlington Road in Dublin 4. A company called Pageflyer plans to build a seven-storey block with a gross floor area of 8,872 sq m (95,497 sq ft). There will also be a double basement level of 3,474 sq m (37,393 sq ft).

In north Dublin, Spectrum Development has sought permission to develop a five and six-storey apartment block with neighbourhood shops and a crèche off the Malahide Road at the Junction Business Park.