Property fund lets former Facebook HQ to Accenture

Letting believed to have put a valuation on 7 Hanover Quay of €75m

Irish property fund Iput plc has let 7 Hanover Quay in Dublin's south docklands area to global consulting group Accenture on a lease worth €3.65 million a year.

Iput has secured €55 per sq ft for the 66,300sq ft office block, making it one of the strongest lettings this year in the Irish commercial market. This suggests a yield of 6.6 per cent for Iput.

This letting is believed to have put a valuation on 7 Hanover Quay of €75 million, a significant step up on the amounts expended by Iput on the property.

Iput acquired the Hanover Quay building in May 2014 for €50 million and has spent €5 million upgrading it for Accenture. It was previously occupied by social media giant Facebook, which had operated its European headquarters from there since it was constructed in 2008.

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Accenture announced earlier this year that it would recruit 200 senior staff and 50 graduates for a new centre of innovation, which will be located at Hanover Quay.

Grand Canal

Accenture employs about 1,600 staff in Ireland and already rents space from Iput at nearby 1 Grand Canal Square.

Savills advised Iput on the Hanover Quay letting while JLL advised Accenture.

The fully refurbished Grade ‘A’ building has been let on a 15-year lease to Accenture. Covering seven floors, it includes executive showers, balconies and terraces on upper floors, 52 basement car parking spaces and 40 bicycle spaces.

Recovery cycle

The building has views over Dublin Bay and the Grand Canal Basin. Iput chief executive

Niall Gaffney

said the letting “underscores the decision we made to acquire the building vacant at a relatively early point in the office recovery cycle”.

“Our strategy is to acquire and hold buildings that offer best-in-class office accommodation and to attract strong covenants from leading global brands such as Accenture to our portfolio,” he said.

Founded in 1967, Iput is the largest unlisted property vehicle in Ireland. It owns a portfolio with a net asset value of about €1.7 billion with more than 1.8 million sq ft of office space in Dublin.

Ciarán Hancock

Ciarán Hancock

Ciarán Hancock is Business Editor of The Irish Times