An American investment firm will be hoping for a 50 per cent increase in value when it puts two office buildings in Dublin’s south docklands back on the market next week, two years after it bought them.
Blackstone, a multinational private-equity firm, paid in the region of €80 million for the Bloodstone Building and an adjoining block on Britain Quay. It is now hoping to sell them for close to €120 million as a result of the sharp recovery in office values and the shortage of modern space in the city.
Duncan Lyster of Lisney, who is handling the sale, yesterday briefed a number of Irish and overseas funds on the details of the forthcoming marketing campaign.
The two office blocks were completed shortly before the property crash by developer Sean Dunne and offered for sale by Nama, even though they were largely vacant. The original sale also included Hume House on Pembroke Road, in Ballsbridge, which had been acquired by Mr Dunne in 2005 with the intention of redeveloping it.
Bloodstone paid in the region of €100 million for the three buildings and is expected to offload Hume House at some time in the future.
Rent
Bloodstone Building is an eight-storey block overlooking the Liffey in the heart of the docklands. With 7,720sq m (83,100sq ft) of space, it is producing rents of €2,145,321, accounting for 47 per cent of the portfolio rent. The block is 84 per cent occupied. As many of the original lettings were at bargain rents of €23-€30 per sq ft, there is potential for rental and capital growth. A recent letting was completed at €49.50 per sq ft. The tenants include
SEB
Life, TripAdvisor,
Log Meln
and
AWAS
Aviation.
The second office block, Central Quay, has a floor area of 5,490sq m (59,091sq ft) and with an 84 per cent occupancy rate has a rent roll of €2,411,666.
Since acquiring the two buildings, Blackstone has remodelled and refurbished the reception areas in both.
