Having reportedly come close to being sold to hoteliers for about €17 million less than six months ago, Ulster Bank’s landmark premises at 33 College Green in Dublin city centre has returned to the market. The property is guiding at a price of €14 million, an increase of €500,000 on the €13.5 million sought by agent Cushman & Wakefield when it first put the building up for sale in September 2023.
The property comprises a six-storey over-basement office building, most of which was built in 1975. A part of the property’s facade fronting on to College Green is listed under Dublin City Council’s Record of Protected Structures and is described as “the Ulster Bank facade, including front-domed roof and flanking chimneys”. Internally, 33 College Green comprises typical 1970s office features throughout and includes a glazed atrium within the core of the building. The building occupies a site of about 0.12 hectares (0.30 acres) and slopes slightly downwards from Suffolk Street to College Green. The property is in a prominent position across the street from Trinity College Dublin and the Bank of Ireland branch within the former Irish houses of parliament.
The building is zoned Z5 City Centre under the terms of the Dublin City Development Plan 2022-2028. The objective of this zoning is “to consolidate and facilitate the development of the central area, and to identify, reinforce, strengthen and protect its civic design character and dignity”. There are several uses permitted in principle under this zoning, including the development of hotels, offices, residential and retail.
The property, within a short walk of Grafton Street, Temple Bar and St Stephen’s Green, provides scope for the delivery of either a 147-bedroom hotel or a 141-bedroom hotel with meeting rooms, according to a feasibility study carried out by by Reddy Architecture + Urbanism.
As reported by The Irish Times earlier this year, that potential for a hotel development saw the property come close to being sold to established hoteliers Brian and Sally McGill, a Donegal couple whose family already owns and operates the Harcourt Hotel, Harrington Hall and the four-star Iveagh Garden Hotel on nearby Harcourt Street.
Commenting on the relaunch of the premises, Benjamin Ashe of Cushman & Wakefield says: “The opportunity to acquire this substantial landmark building in the heart of Dublin city centre remains very enticing. The huge potential of the property is expected to attract interest from a wide cross section of purchasers.”
