Having only recently secured a total of €40 million from its sale of Victoria Secret’s flagship store on Grafton Street and Tesco’s Lower Baggot Street premises to Beauparc Utilities founder Eamon Waters, Iput is looking to dispose of another of its Dublin city centre properties.
On this occasion the Irish property company has instructed agent Savills to find a buyer for Nos 73-83 Lower Mount Street in Dublin. The office property, which extends to 60,207sq ft, comes for sale fully let to the Office of Public Works (OPW) at a guide price of €37.5 million.
The guide price reflects a net initial yield of 5.75 per cent (after standard purchasers’ costs of 9.96 per cent). Quite apart from the relative attractiveness of that return, the sale of the property offers the prospective purchaser the guarantee of 100 per cent government income for over five years to break and 8.5 years to lease expiry, along with long-term redevelopment potential in the heart of Dublin’s central business district.
Currently the property, which has two separate entrances, is split by way of Timberlay and Ballaugh House. The offices are arranged over lower-ground and four upper floors, extending to a total net internal area of 5,593sq m (60,207sq ft), and are fully let to the OPW on full repairing and insuring (FRI) leases. Existing tenants include the Revenue Commissioners.
Iput secured planning permission from An Bord Pleanála in 2021 for the demolition and redevelopment of the property to incorporate a state-of-the-art five-storey over-basement office building extending to 117,177sq ft (GIA). The approved development features external terraces on the fifth floor and provides for 90 bicycle spaces and 20 car-parking spaces at basement level.
Iput’s decision to dispose of the property is in keeping with its long-standing practice of recycling and redeploying capital to drive income and capital growth.
Commenting on the sale, Darragh Doyle of Savills Ireland says: “The sale of 73–83 Lower Mount Street represents an excellent opportunity to acquire a high-quality office investment with the option for redevelopment. The property is excellently located on Lower Mount Street, a short walk from St Stephen’s Green and Grafton Street, and benefits from excellent public transport links. The current tenant provides a high degree of stability and income certainty for potential purchasers, which should drive significant demand for this asset.”
