New Ireland Assurance brings another office block to the market for €2.6m

With several parties already understood to have expressed an interest in the sale of New Ireland Assurance’s offices at number 5-9 South Frederick Street, the arrival to the market of the building’s immediate neighbour just one week later opens up a range of possibilities for the redevelopment of this part of Dublin’s south city centre. Although the properties are being offered for sale individually, and in processes managed respectively by agents CBRE and Savills, were a prospective purchaser to acquire both buildings, they would gain control of a significant portion of one of the capital’s best-located streets.

Number 3-4 South Frederick Street briefly comprises a stand-alone office building dating from the 1940s and extending to 661sq m (7,118sq ft) distributed across four storeys over a concealed basement. Occupied for many years by General Investment Trust, a subsidiary of New Ireland Assurance and Bank of Ireland, the property is being offered for sale with the benefit of vacant possession at a guide price of €2.6 million. The proposed disposals of numbers 3-4 and 5-9 South Frederick Street come just over five years on from New Ireland Assurance’s €38 million sale of its former Dawson Street headquarters to Paddy McKillen jnr and Matt Ryan’s Oakmount and Derek McGrath’s Core Capital.

Although 3-4 South Frederick Street isn’t a protected structure, its “robust contribution to the architectural variety and quality of South Frederick Street and to the 20th-century architectural heritage of Dublin” is noted on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.

A feasibility study by DMOD Architects suggests there is scope to extend the footprint of the existing office building and keep it in office use or to convert it to residential apartments. The property also offers scope for conversion to a hotel according to the selling agent. This potential use should be of particular interest to those considering the acquisition of the adjoining building, number 5-9 South Frederick Street.

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A feasibility study undertaken by RKD Architects in preparation for number 5-9′s sale suggests the 1960s building offers significant scope for redevelopment as a hotel. Four hotel layouts have been designed as part of the RKD study with schemes ranging from a room count of 52 bedrooms up to 137 bedrooms, depending on room sizes and amenities. Number 5-9 currently comprises five storeys of office space over a basement car park and extends to 3,570sq m (38,427sq ft). The building has a net area of 2,134sq m (22,970sq ft).

The immediate area around the street in Dublin’s south city centre is thriving thanks to the presence of numerous leading corporate occupiers including AIB, Davy and Barclays, along with a wide and varied selection of restaurants, cafes and high-end retail on the stretch from Molesworth Street to Grafton Street.

Commenting on the sale of 3-4 South Frederick Street, Seán Ryan Mc Caffrey of Savills says: “This property sits at the very centre of blue-chip tenancy and benchmark office rental levels. It will appeal to investors, developers and owner-occupiers, providing them with a blank canvas teeming with potential in one of the most vibrant, strategic and sought-after locales in Dublin.”