The successful run of distressed commercial property sales and the higher prices available have triggered an increasing number of routine investment disposals in the Dublin area. An example is the planned sale by an investment syndicate of the UPC office block in East Point Business Park in the Dublin docklands – it goes on the market today at a guide price of €8.8 million.
Adrian Trueick of Knight Frank is handling the sale of the four-storey office block of 4,6123sq m (49,645sq ft) which was developed in 2000. It is fitted out to full third-generation specification including double-glazed aluminium windows, raised-access floors, and suspended ceiling with recessed lighting. The block has 71 parking spaces, a generous ratio which works out at one car space per 63.8sq m.
The building is let to UPC, the internet and digital television provider, under a 25-year lease from December 2000, with upwards-only rent reviews every five years.
The lease terms were recently renegotiated to extend a tenant-break option from 2020 to 2025.
Under the revised terms the tenant will pay a rent of €1,016,132 per annum until December 2015, with the rent reducing to €647,276 per annum from January 2016, up to the next rent review in December 2020.
With a guide price of €8.8 million, the investment will provide an initial return of 11 per cent, falling to 7.1 per cent following the rent reduction.
With the supply of good-quality office accommodation in the city centre rapidly declining, the reduced rent which reflects a rate of only €131 per sq m (€12.25 per sq ft) offers considerable scope for growth at the next rent review.
East Point has been one of the city's most successful office developments attracting top-class occupiers including Google, Yahoo, Deutsche Bank, Cisco, Oracle and Whirlpool.
The entrance to the UPC building is via a full-height glazed atrium with a generous landscaped lobby including polished granite floors. Internally the offices provide adaptable and flexible workspaces. All floors are H-shaped with a central core, allowing for sub-division of the floor plates.
