Two fully-let Dublin 2 office blocks with potential to increase their rent roll and size have come on the market at €27 million through agent Knight Frank.
The adjoining blocks, at 51-54 Pearse Street and Magennis Court, produce a rent roll of €1.32 million which would reflect a net initial yield of 4.5 per cent. However, the agent suggests that the market rent for the assets is more than €1.7 million which would reflect a return of 6 per cent.
The buildings form part of a three-block scheme developed in the late noughties which share a common basement car park but are otherwise self-contained.
51-54 Pearse Street, which extends to 2,373sq m (25,619sq ft), is a refurbished Georgian building to the front linked by a glazed atrium to a modern six-storey office block at the rear.
It comes with 10 car-parking spaces and is let to Henry J Lyons Architects (HJL) and Aquacomms at a rent of €848,059 per annum. HJL's rent averages €269 per sq m (€25.18 per sq ft) – well below the most recent letting in the building at €592 per sq m (€55 per sq ft) – while a rent review is due next year. The weighted average unexpired lease term for this block is more than eight years.
Magennis Court is a modern five-storey office block which extends to 1,625sq m (17,490sq ft) and is finished to Grade A standard with raised access floors, suspended ceilings and recessed lighting. It comes with five car-parking spaces.
Tenants include John Daly Atlantic Language Galway at a rent of €453,300 per annum – €376.74 per sq m (€35 per sq ft) – on a lease which expires in four years. A double-height basement and parking space is licensed to Chartered Accountants Ireland at an additional €15,500 per annum.
The agent suggests both buildings have scope for further development, subject to planning permission, with an “illustrative architect’s scheme suggesting potential for an additional office floor on both buildings”.
This part of Pearse Street has seen significant redevelopment in recent years. Nearby, Trinity College is building a €62 million 250-bed student accommodation scheme while its €80 million Trinity Business School close to Pearse station is nearing completion. TCD's Biomedical Sciences Institute and student centre have also greatly added to Pearse Street.
Ongoing redevelopment in the south docklands has greatly increased the attractiveness of this part of Dublin as an office location, especially given its proximity to the Dart and bus services.
The Pearse Street buildings are being sold on the instructions of Avestus, a well-known real estate investment and asset manager with extensive interests in Ireland and Europe.
