Just over four years on from its acquisition for €9.2 million by a vehicle involving Simon Kelly’s RQTwo and Cork-based investment manager Blackbee Investments, Block 2 at Blackrock Business Park in south Dublin is being offered to the market at a guide price of €10.25 million. The sale on this occasion is being handled by QRE Real Estate Advisers on behalf of joint receivers Sharon Barrett and Declan Taite of Kroll Advisory. The move to dispose of the property follows the appointment of liquidators to Blackbee Investments in May of last year.
Block 2 comprises a stand-alone three-storey office building extending to 2,571sq m (27,678sq ft) along with 71 car-parking spaces. The property has strong sustainability credentials, with a Ber rating within the B1 to B3 range with scope for further improvement. The tenant line-up comprises Identigen and Becton Dickinson, with a weighted average unexpired lease term (WAULT) of circa 4.24 years to break and 10.45 years to lease expiry.
Identigen occupies the ground and second floors of the building and has just completed a full fit-out of the second floor, while Becton Dickinson occupies the first floor and has also recently completed a new fit-out of their space.
Identigen is an Irish food safety and traceability company with operations in Ireland, Europe, Britain and the United States. In 2020, the company was acquired by Merck subsidiary MSD Animal Health in a multimillion-euro deal. Becton Dickinson, meanwhile, is one of the largest medical-technology companies in the world.
News of the proposed sale of Block 2 follows last year’s €13 million acquisition by Remake Asset Management of the neighbouring Blocks 3, 4 and 5 from US real-estate investment firm Kennedy Wilson.
The €10.25 million price being guided for Block 2 reflects a net initial yield of 8.16 per cent based on the property’s contracted rent of €919,999 per annum.
The wider Blackrock area has seen significant rejuvenation over recent years. Aviva has recently completed a comprehensive refurbishment and repositioning of the Blackrock Village Centre, which now comprises more than 80,000sq ft of retail and office space, while the nearby Frascati Shopping Centre has also undergone a significant redevelopment.
Commenting on the sale of Block 2 at Blackrock Business Park, Conor Whelan and David O’Malley of QRE said: “Given the buoyant occupier and investor demand in this location, strong ESG credentials and excellent tenant covenants on offer, we anticipate investor appetite both from private Irish investors and small-mid cap funds.”
