Having failed to secure a buyer when it was offered to the market for €3.75 million in 2023, number 94-96 Middle Abbey Street is back for sale at a discounted price. Agent Colliers is handling the sale on this occasion and is guiding €3.4 million for the property.

Developed in the years following the 1916 Easter Rising, the property comprises a four-bay, five-storey-over-basement mixed-use building and is laid out as retail, office and residential accommodation. It occupies a high-profile position on Middle Abbey Street next to Arnotts and adjoining Independent House, the former headquarter offices of The Irish Independent, Sunday Independent and Evening Herald newspapers. Both of these buildings are set to play a significant role in the regeneration of Middle Abbey Street with planning permission granted recently for the development of a student-accommodation scheme at Independent House and a new 245-bedroom hotel above Arnotts.

94-96 Middle Abbey Street extends to a total area of 868sq m (9,348sq ft) with retail accommodation at ground floor and basement levels, six apartments on the upper floors and a first-floor office. The ground floor and basement are let to City Electrical Factors (CEF), a well-known international electrical wholesaler, at an annual rent of €100,000. The upper floors are generating €140,832 from six apartments, comprising a mix of two and three-bedroom units. The first-floor office space, which extends to 106sq m (1,143 sq ft), is vacant, and offers scope according to the selling agent, for conversion to residential accommodation, subject to planning permission. The property is generating overall rental income of €240,832 a year.

Stephen Conway of Colliers says: “This is an opportunity to acquire a landmark mixed-use investment in the heart of Dublin city centre. The property’s secure income profile coupled with its clear reversionary potential will appeal to both private and institutional investors seeking a long-term, value-add opportunity in a prime location.”