Price of St Stephen’s Green office cut 33% as it comes back to market at €18m

Standard Life’s Dublin headquarters had been offered for sale in October 2020 with more ambitious guide of €27m

Having failed to find a buyer when it was offered for sale for €27 million during the Covid-19 pandemic in October 2020, number 90-91 St Stephen’s Green has returned to the market through agent CBRE at a new and lower guide price of €18 million. The sum being sought on this occasion represents a significant discount of 33.3 per cent and reflects a capital value of €677 per square foot.

The property, in a prime position overlooking St Stephen’s Green to the front and Iveagh Gardens to the rear, comprises a four-storey over-basement office building extending to 2,470sq m (26,590sq ft) and distributed over-average floor plates of 493sq m (5,307sq ft).

The central location of the building’s core allows for the floor plates to be split if required, providing flexibility for a landlord when marketing the offices. The building has 25 on-site car spaces at lower ground-floor level, with direct access off St Stephen’s Green, equating to a generous car park ratio of about 1:100sq m of office accommodation compared with the modern city centre provision of 1:400sq m.

The building is fully let to Standard Life on a 10-year FRI lease from September 15th, 2011. The tenant extended their lease to September 2024 and the current passing rent is €1,100,000 annually, or €41 per square foot. Should a sale proceed at the €18 million guide price, the new owner would be in line for a net initial yield of 5.56 per cent.

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In September 2024, the purchaser may have the opportunity to secure vacant possession of the property. In the short term, the investment offers a degree of flexibility, with asset-management, refurbishment, and repositioning options available.

St Stephen’s Green is widely acknowledged as Dublin city centre’s most prestigious location. There is an abundance of amenities on the doorstep, including hotels, restaurants, cafes, shopping, culture and entertainment venues.

Number 90-91 is bounded to the south by the Iveagh Gardens, to the north by St Stephen’s Green, and to the east and west by a range of blue-chip office occupiers including aircraft leasing specialist AerCap Holdings, US pharma giant Horizon Therapeutics and the Dublin headquarters of US real estate investment firm Kennedy Wilson at number 94.

Will Heffernan and Rob Mulcair of CBRE say: “This sale presents an exceptional opportunity to invest in and put one’s own stamp on the best address in the city overlooking St Stephen’s Green park.”

Ronald Quinlan

Ronald Quinlan

Ronald Quinlan is Property Editor of The Irish Times