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TikTok base in Dublin’s south docklands on the market for €280m

Cushman & Wakefield initiates a targeted sale process for TikTok’s base in city’s south docklands

The Sorting Office occupies a pivotal position on Cardiff Lane in Dublin's south docklands.
The Sorting Office occupies a pivotal position on Cardiff Lane in Dublin's south docklands.

The Singapore-headquartered real-estate investment trust Mapletree Investments is seeking a buyer for the Sorting Office, the 18,766sq m (202,000sq ft) home of TikTok in Dublin’s south docklands.

Agent Cushman & Wakefield is understood to have circulated a confidential teaser document in relation to the sale to a select number of potential purchasers, as part of a targeted process.

The guide price is understood to be €280 million – or some €40 million more than Mapletree paid to secure ownership of the office scheme from developer Pat Crean’s Marlet Property Group and its finance partners, M&G Investments, in 2019.

Should a sale proceed at the proposed price, the prospective purchaser would be in line for a net initial yield of about 4 per cent. TikTok signed a long-term lease in December 2021 in which it committed to occupy all 18,766sq m (202,000sq ft) at the Cardiff Lane property on the basis of a 15-year lease, with 10 years’ term-certain and a rent-free period of about 18 months.

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The rental level agreed for the office scheme is understood to have been between €55 and €60 per square foot.

While TikTok has in recent weeks begun cutting roles across its global recruiting team, its longer-term plan is to grow its Dublin-based workforce to 5,000.

To this end, the Chinese-owned social media platform agreed a deal last August to occupy all 7,897sq m (85,000sq ft) of office accommodation at the Tropical Fruit Warehouse, the six-storey riverfront building developed by Iput on nearby Sir John Rogerson’s Quay.

Taken together, the Sorting Office and Tropical Fruit Warehouse provide TikTok with sufficient space to accommodate more than 2,800 workers.

Ronald Quinlan

Ronald Quinlan

Ronald Quinlan is Property Editor of The Irish Times