Under-rented office block in prime docklands location guiding at €12.5m

The continuing success of Eastpoint Business Park in the Dublin docklands has encouraged another owner to test the strength of the office investment market.

Agent JLL is guiding €12.5 million for an office building let to Virgin Media Ireland and guaranteed by UPC Broadband. Block P2 has 4,645 sq m (50,000 sq ft) of space over four floors and 71 car-parking spaces. The 25-year lease from December 2000 includes a tenant break option at the end of 2020.

One of the attractions of the investment is that it is under-rented. The rent roll of €647,276 reflects a rental level of €129 per sq m (€12 per sq ft) and €700 for car-parking spaces. Similar buildings in Eastpoint are attracting rents of €215-€269 per sq m (€20-€25 per sq ft). The most direct comparison is in the adjoining Block P3, where two vacant floors are currently on the market at €25 per sq ft and €1,350 for parking spaces.

Derek Sexton of JLL said that, with rents continuing to rise in Eastpoint and an excellent tenant in place, this was a good time to buy a well-located office investment with significant reversionary potential.

Eastpoint's superb location in the Dublin docklands has made it particularly popular with companies involved in technology, media and telecommunications, along with the financial services sectors. The park has a vacancy rate as low as 3.5 per cent. The list of companies represented there includes Google, Deutsche Bank, Oracle, Cisco, Verizon and Enterprise Ireland.