Lettings at a major office complex in Ballsbridge underline just how strong the office market is, writes Jack Fagan.
Two of the three office buildings in the first major office and retail development in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, for many years have been let and there is strong interest in the final block which has just been completed.
The success of the letting campaign comes at a time when the city office market is at its strongest for eight years with prime rents set to rise to a record €650 per sq m (€60.4 per sq ft).
The two blocks are in The Oval, a 13,800sq m (148,542sq ft) complex of headquarters-style offices between the Shelbourne Road and the River Dodder with retail units and a Jackie Skelly gym and swimming pool in the basement.
The distinctive office and retail development is located alongside Ballsbridge Motors and, when the third block is let, it is likely to have a rent roll of €8.5 million and a capital value of around €200 million. The four owners - David Colgan, Finian McDonnell, Phil Monaghan and Pat Ryan - bought the 2.5 acres site of the old Spring Grove laundry for over €13 million about seven years ago.
Construction and fit-out costs are thought to have been around €75 million and, with holding and other costs likely to have accounted for another €10 million, the consortium is still on track - based on a yield of 4 per cent - to show a capital gain of over €100 million on the development.
The second largest block in The Oval - Building 2 with a floor area of 5,502sq m (59,223sq ft) and 50 car-parking spaces - has been leased to Eirgrid, the State-owned independent electricity transmission system operator which was spun off from the ESB last year to create a wholesale market and facilitate competition in electricity generation.
Building 3, with 2,349sq m (25,284sq ft), has been let to a number of companies, including Amarin Corporation, Gyro, Dragados plc and Claret Capital.
The joint letting agents, HT Meagher O'Reilly and Jones Lang LaSalle, are understood to be in advanced negotiations to let the 557sq m (5,995sq ft) penthouse. The rent is likely to be around €645 per sq m (€60.4 per sq ft).
The front office building is available to rent as a single unit of 6,422sq m (69,126sq ft) or on a floor-by-floor basis at an annual rent of €591.8 per sq m (€55 per sq ft). On the retail side, Starbucks has leased one of the retail units and the agents are marketing the remaining three units. As well as a gym, pool and common areas by the Dodder, the Oval's offices also have large terraces with superb views and high-spec interior space. The finish includes the first ever use in Dublin of a European-style terracotta screen that reduces glare and deflects rain from the extensive glazed area which provides maximum natural lighting.
