Vacant Dublin 4 office sold for €55m

Office Sector: Green Property Co has decided to offload a large modern office which failed to find a tenant for over two years, says Jack Fagan

Green Property Co has agreed to sell a two-and-a-half-year-old office building in Ringsend, Dublin 4, for €55 million after failing to find a tenant for it.

The Watermarque Building, a distinctive block backing on to Shelbourne Park greyhound racing track, has been acquired in an off-market deal by Sean Reilly, a prominent developer in both the residential and commercial markets.

Green has managed to show a profit on the transaction, even though it spent €10 million acquiring the site and a further €30 million on the construction of the five-storey block which has a floor area of 9,969sq m (107,320sq ft) and 99 car-parking spaces at basement level.

CBRE Gunne came close to letting the building on several occasions, even though its availability coincided with a sharp downturn in the Dublin office market.

Pfizer and Google both looked like taking the block at different times but, with Green holding out for a rent of €430 per sq m (€40 per sq ft), other developers were only too willing to offer incentives to attract major tenants.

Developer Liam Carroll did just that with his large office scheme at Barrow Street, offering Google equally high quality space at a 25 per cent discount - €322 per sq m (€30 per sq ft). The initial letting in Barrow Street of 4,645sq m (50,000sq ft) has since been doubled to cater for the rapid growth of the Google operation.

On a broader front, Barrow Street has proved a more popular location for office users because of the opening of the new Dart station and the completion of hundreds of new apartments there. Barrow Street's close proximity to the bars and restaurants in the Ballsbridge area has also enhanced the appeal of the new location.

The sale of the Watermarque Building means that Green has now managed to shift two of its vacant blocks within a matter of weeks. The second block, The Atrium at Blanchardstown, has just been let to eBay at a rent of over €161 per sq m (€15 per sq ft). The 5,574sq m (60,000sq ft) block had been vacant for about two years.

Reilly, one of the most astute developers in Dublin, has managed to build and let 23,225sq m (250,000sq ft) at Ivy Court on Harcourt Road in Dublin 2. The tenants include the Investment Bank and Trust Co, Mercer and the Office of Public Works. Reilly is also developing homes at Lusk and Stepaside and has a considerable landbank in the greater Dublin area.