Dublin’s business district accounted for half of office space take up last year

Half of overall office space take up in Dublin last year was in the city’s central business district (CBD), figures from commercial property agent Cushman & Wakefield show.

As the Dublin office leasing market returns to the pre-crisis peaks of 2007, Cushman noted that a 16 per cent increase in the volume of space taken in the CBD meant that it represented half of the Dublin’s overall take up in the year. One-third of the take up in the CBD was newly delivered stock.

Additionally, in a review of 2017, the company said activity was propelled by an uplift in very large lettings with five deals in the year greater than 10,000 sq m in size, compared to no such transaction in 2016.

The final quarter of the year saw the largest occupation, with Microsoft moving into their new 34,550 sq m office in Sandyford.

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Another five deals greater than 10,000 sq m were signed, with Indeed. com pre-signing for 100 and 300 Capital Dock, while the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) will move to the newly completed 1 Dublin Landings this year.

Important year

"It was a particularly important year for the Dublin office market in terms of development. With approximately 180,600 sq m of new accommodation delivered in 2017, the highest since peak years, both occupiers and investors are being offered new and alternative options to satisfy requirements," Marian Finnegan, Cushman & Wakefield's chief economist, said.

Looking to the year ahead, Cushman said it expects over 200,000 sq m to be delivered, 37 per cent of which is already pre-let.

While overall supply levels had begun to edge upwards, the vacancy rate in Dublin stands at 8.7 per cent.

"Technology companies led demand in 2017 and this trend is set to continue into 2018. Serviced office/co-working operators such as WeWork, Iconic and Regus will also account for a growing share of take up in the year ahead. We are also seeing a rise in expansions of professional service companies, in tandem with the growing economy," said Ronan Corbett, head of offices at Cushman & Wakefield.