€5.5m for vacant office block

With the office investment market once again experiencing buoyant conditions, agent JLL expects to find an early purchaser for a recently vacant office building in South County Business Park in south Dublin.

Simon McEvoy of the agency is seeking in excess of €5.5 million for Pelham House, a 10-year-old building extending to 2,469sq m (26,585sq ft), which has 44 onsite car parking spaces.

The building is owned by developer John Lally, who has a number of property loans being managed by the National Asset Management Agency.

JLL say the "grade A" building, which won an architectural award in 2004 ,was occupied until recently by MSD Ireland – formerly known as Merck Sharp Dohme.

The rent roll of €575,700 worked out at €215 per sq m (€20 per sq ft) and €1,000 for car parking spaces.

MSD has since relocated to larger premises in the park with an overall floor area of 6,363sq m (68,500sq ft). Other leading companies in the park include Icon, Airtricity, Softco, Fanin Healthcare and Microsoft.

Mr McEvoy says they have already had interest in the block because of its architectural design and high specification.

There were quite a few companies in the 1,858/2,787sq m (20,000/30,000sq ft) market wanting their own self-contained building to enhance their own identity.

However, there are relatively few building available of that size.

Mr McEvoy said he also expected interest from companies who preferred to purchase rather than lease their buildings.