TCD’s purchase of a dated office block is thought to be the only sale so far this year of a substantial commercial property in the city centre
TRINITY COLLEGE is about to acquire yet another building near its campus in Dublin city centre.
The college has completed legal contracts to buy the former Coyle Hamilton office building, Phoenix House, at South Leinster Street for around €16 million.
It is thought to be the only sale so far this year of a substantial commercial property in the city centre.
The four-storey over basement building has a floor area of 2,853sq m (30,709sq ft) and has been owned for many years by the financial services group Friends First.
Agent Spain Courtney Doyle ran a long but unsuccessful marketing campaign to let the building after it was vacated by Coyle Hamilton. That brokerage was acquired by the US multinational Willis Group in 2004 for €70 million. Willis subsequently moved its operations to Grand Canal Quay on Barrow Street in Dublin 4.
The old Coyle Hamilton headquarters is between the entrance of the National Gallery and the Kilkenny shop on Nassau Street.
Up to last year Trinity College would have faced stiff competition for the building because of its convenient location overlooking the grounds of the college.
However, with few other buyers in the market because of the banking crisis, the college is one of the few institutions in a position to fund the purchase at this stage.
Friends First, like many financial groups, is thought to have been keen to liquidate some of its property investments to reimburse retail investors in unit linked funds.
Trinity College, one of the largest property owners in the city centre, is likely to redevelop the South Leinster Street building in the medium term because of its dated façade and interiors, and the availability of 51 car-parking spaces at the rear.
The planners might also allow two additional floors to be added to bring it into line with adjoining buildings.
It stands next to a newly completed six-storey block, Trinity Point, which has been built on the site of the former Marsh McLennon insurance building.
The new block is to be marketed as one of the most energy efficient in the city. A promotion for it on the internet says it can give energy savings of up to 60 per cent, largely because of the use of a double skinned glazed façade and modern energy saving building techniques.
Third generation buildings of this quality in the city would normally rent for around €645 per sq m (€60 per sq ft) but, with the office market in the doldrums, the developer may have to settle for somewhat less than that figure.
