The ongoing rebalancing of the Dublin office market continued in the second quarter as take-up levels grew in the face of a weakening pipeline of future developments. That’s the key takeaway from the latest report into activity in sector by Cushman & Wakefield.
While preliminary data for the second quarter of 2025 shows that demand for office space in the capital hit its highest level since 2022 with about 206,800 sq m (2.2 million sq ft) taken up by companies over the past 12 months, that figure comes against the backdrop of just 165,000 sq m (1.78 million sq ft) of office space under construction for the period 2025-2027 with about 76 per cent of that accommodation already pre-let or reserved.
To put those figures in perspective, the average Dublin office take-up came in at around 193,000 sq m (2.078 million sq ft) over the past 15 years, according to Cushman & Wakefield.
About 61,100 sq m (657,675 sq ft) of office space was leased in the second quarter of this year, with the majority of this accounted for by two significant transactions.
The bigger of these two lettings saw US technology giant Workday formally signing a deal to locate its new European headquarters at College Square, the landmark office scheme developed by Pat Crean’s Marlet Property Group in Dublin city centre.
[ Marlet secures €238m refinancing deal for College Square developmentOpens in new window ]
Workday will occupy some 38,700 sq m (416,200 sq ft) of the office space at College Square. The company’s accommodation represents the entirety of College Square’s “super-prime” office space and is the equivalent of five and a half football pitches. The College Square deal is the largest single office letting to have taken place in the European office market since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020 and was brokered by Cushman & Wakefield’s Dublin office.
The other major lease of note in the second quarter involved Vodafone which took 5,900 sq m (63,000 sq ft) at 70 St Stephen’s Green.
The amount of reserved space in the Dublin office market meanwhile “held steady”, according to Cushman & Wakefield, at more than 100,000 sq m (1.08 million sq ft) reserved in the second quarter.
The level of office vacancy remains elevated in a longer-term context, however. Having peaked in the first quarter of this year at 17 per cent, the report’s authors say their preliminary analysis has found that the vacancy rate fell to about 15.5 per cent in the second quarter.
Tom McCabe, head of research and insight at Cushman & Wakefield, said: “In recent quarters we have seen a marked improvement in supply and demand fundamentals for the Dublin office market. Take-up on an annualised basis is running at its highest level in around three years, the amounts of reserved space have climbed, vacancy rates are now falling, and future office supply is relatively scant. Overall, the data points to a market which is rebalancing for the better.”
Ronan Corbett, head of Cushman & Wakefield’s office division, added: “We are delighted to have secured College Square as the new EMEA headquarters for Workday this quarter. This is a significant vote of confidence not only in the Dublin office market but also in the outlook for international investment in Ireland.”
