After failing to sell prior to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, a high-yielding Dublin city centre office is being offered to the market once more at a new and reduced price.
Having guided at a figure of €3.45 million in 2019, the penthouse of the Capel Building at St Mary’s Abbey, Dublin 7, is for sale on this occasion for €2.75 million. The amount being sought by agent QRE Real Estate Advisers represents a reduction of 20 per cent on the property’s pre-pandemic valuation.
With a floor area of about 643sq m (6,921 sq ft), the penthouse comprises of suites 501-506, which have been interconnected to provide high-quality office accommodation. The property is fully let to Storm Technology, a business technology consultancy, for a term of 10 years from February 2019 at a current passing rent of € 255,667 per year.
The lease provides for a fixed uplift to € 284,097 a year from February 2024 onwards. The tenant has a break option in January 2024. Three secure basement car-parking spaces with the benefit of vacant possession are included in the sale. These could allow an investor to increase the total rent by about € 9,000 a year, according to the selling agent.
A sale at the asking price of €2.75 million would provide a net initial yield of 8.45 per cent, allowing for standard purchaser’s costs of 9.96 per cent. Should the tenant choose not to exercise their break option in 2024, this yield would rise to a more attractive return of 9.4 per cent.
The Capel Building itself is a third-generation, six-storey building comprising five storeys of office accommodation over ground-floor retail and basement levels. Completed in 2004, the property is located at the corner of St Mary’s Abbey and Capel Street and within a short walk of Jervis Street, Mary Street and Henry Street.
The immediate area has long been established as one of Dublin city’s main retail districts and is home to a wide range of bars, cafes, restaurants and hotels, and is readily accessible by public transport, with the Luas red line nearby.
