Pan-European investor and asset manager M7 Real Estate has achieved 100 per cent occupancy at the Nutley Building in the Merrion Centre on Merrion Road, Dublin 4. St Vincent’s Hospital has signed a new 10-year lease on 386sq m (4,160sq ft) of space which it intends to use as its administrative hub.
The deal is one of 30 new lettings and lease renewals agreed by M7 for its European value add fund, M7 European Real Estate Investment Partners (“M7 EREIP VI”) over the last 12 months. The fund portfolio is now 97 per cent let while its weighted average unexpired lease term (WAULT) has been extended to over four years. The rental income across M7′s suburban Dublin office portfolio, meanwhile, has been increased by nearly 12 per cent.
EREIP VI’s Irish portfolio extends to more than 18,500sq m (200,000sq ft) of commercial space that has predominantly been acquired over the last year. The office assets where leasing activity has taken place include the Sandyford Business Centre in the south Dublin suburb of Sandyford, the Nutley Building and at Swords Enterprise Park in north Dublin.
Other new lettings have been agreed with OOMI Travel, Fingal County Council, Silicon Highway, Irish Centre for Cycling, Baxter Healthcare, RFC Security, Kavanagh Forensics and O’Briens Landscaping. Additionally, several large lease renewals have been completed with the Embassy of Japan, AC Neilson, Peter Finn, Eurofins Biomnis Ireland, Arkphire Ireland, Bonkers and Oliver Sears Gallery.
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Commenting on this activity, John Murnaghan, managing director at M7 Real Estate Ireland, said: “We are seeing significant growth across our office assets in Dublin, demonstrating that the leasing market for well-located offices outside of the city centre is very much alive and kicking, despite the wider negativity surrounding the sector.
“Following the successful implementation of active asset-management strategies by our team on the ground, we have been able to realise healthy growth in rent while securing new leases and renewals with a diverse mix of excellent tenants. A key part of our strategy is to improve the sustainability credentials of the portfolio through targeted capital expenditure, which is a constant feature of our offer.”