A modern office building in Dublin which proved difficult to sell five years ago made £1.75 million at a Lisney auction last week - over £1 million more than it was sold for in 1994.

A private investor who bought Dargan House, a three-storey block with 6,234 sq ft at Fenian Street, in a slow market sold it on to another investor at a handsome profit.

With the building producing a rent roll of £94,112 from three tenants, including Larry Goodman's Allied Irish Beef Producers, the new owner will get an initial yield of 4.9 per cent - probably the lowest yield for a secondary location.

Dargan House has raised access floors, a lift serving all floors and five car-parking spaces.

The strong price underlines the severe shortage of commercial investments in the Dublin market. William Fennelly of Lisney says that after a good performance by the office sector last year, investors believed offices would continue to do well in 1999.