Retail rents set new Dublin benchmark at £292 per sq ft

A new Zone A benchmark rent for Dublin's high streets has been set with the letting of a newly developed shop opposite Jervis Street Shopping Centre on Mary Street. The UK multiple JB Sports is to pay a rent of £500,000 for 15,000 sq ft of retail space on three floors, equating to a Zone A rent of £292 per sq ft. The previous highest was the £275 per sq ft paid by the UK multiple Lush for the former American Express shop at the bottom of Grafton Street. The new rent level on Mary Street compares with £260 per sq ft paid by jewellers H Samuel for number 1 Henry Street.

The Mary Street deal is the largest single new letting on the main shopping streets. Shops of this size are constantly in demand but seldom come on the market except in shopping centres. Michael Harrington of Palmer McCormack, who handled the letting, said the deal underlined the gravitation of Henry Street's prime retail pitch to the Liffey Street/ ILAC junction. The newly let store has been formed out of a former AIB branch and a drapery store. The bank is believed to have been acquired for around £3.5 million while the adjoining building had a value of about £1.5 million. The bank still has an ATM machine on the front of the building.

Larry Brennan of Hamilton Osborne King acted for JB Sports who also trade out of Liffey Valley Shopping Centre.