Private Irish investor pays €4.4m for Garda human resources headquarters

A private Irish investor is in line for a 9.09 per cent return following their acquisition for €4.4 million of Athlumney House in Navan, Co Meath. The price paid represents a discount of 23 per cent on the €5.7 million figure agent Colliers had been guiding when it brought the property to the market last September.

Athlumney House is better known as the headquarter offices of the Garda Human Resources Directorate, the agency responsible for most of the administrative and transactional HR functions for all Garda members and civilian staff. Among the functions administered in Athlumney House are pay and pensions; sick leave and other leave schemes; records, data protection and file management; administration and statistics.

The property is fully let to the Office of Public Works (OPW) under a single, full repairing and insuring (FRI) 20-year lease from 2008. While the new owner stands to secure a return of 9.09 per cent on acquisition from government income, there is an immediate opportunity to enhance the rent roll due to an outstanding rent review from October 2022, which is on upwards-only terms.

Athlumney House extends to a gross internal area of 2,741sq m (29,500sq ft) and comprises an original two-storey over-basement period property that interlinks with a modern office extension extending to 1,905sq m (20,506sq ft) over ground and first floor. The original period building comprises a converted former residential dwelling known as Athlumney House dating from the 1700s with the modern, purpose-built office building dating from the early 2000s. The property sits on a 4.23-acre site and has 112 car-parking spaces.