One has to wonder about the thinking that informed the Government's decision 10 years ago to sell off 21-33 Merrion Street, a prestigious Georgian row just opposite the Taoiseach's Department.
Dilapidated as the 13 buildings were, they fetched €5.5 million when sold in three blocks. All told, the sale cost the Office of Public Works €614, 968. Such expenditure was only marginally less than the sum realised in 1992 for one of the blocks, numbers 30-33, which went for €634,869.
The purchaser was an English-owned company registered in the Isle of Man, Greythorn Ltd, which is controlled by Mr PJ Kennedy.
After refurbishment, the properties were fully let and they now yield €336,000 in annual rents. Two years' income at such rates equals more than the original price, and this alone makes the deal a smart one for him.
But there is more. The properties are set to realise more than €8 million when sold in the next fortnight, a profit of more than 1,200 per cent on the original sale. Good for Mr Kennedy.
Much less so for the State, which is spending more than €31 million on a refurbishment of Hawkins House, perhaps the most reviled building in Dublin. It is also seeking new office space for the Department of Health and Children, currently based there.
If money can be found to do up Hawkins House when times are good, the optimum solution for the State would have been to hold on to Merrion Street.
Of course, hindsight may be the most perfect science of them all, but common sense tends to suggest that prize assets should never be sold in a poor market.
After all, Dublin addresses don't come much fancier than Merrion Street, which is adjacent to central government and in the heart of the business district.
