The exponential growth over recent years of commercial and residential development in Dublin’s north docklands is expected to see strong interest from international investors in the sale of Point Square.
Developed originally by Harry Crosbie, the scheme known formerly as Point Village, is being offered for sale by Savills on behalf of joint statutory receivers Stephen Tennant and Paul McCann of Grant Thornton, at a guide price of €75 million.
The Point Square scheme comprises some 103,000sq ft of office space, a 242,000sq ft shopping centre which incorporates a 95,000sq ft anchor store, over 61,000sq ft of space with planning permission for retail and/or leisure use, a six-screen cinema let to Odeon, 756 car parking spaces and 24,000sq ft of permitted café/restaurant space – home to various food and beverage operators including Starbucks, Eddie Rockets, Ruby's, Salad Box and Freshii. In addition, Crossfit 353 have opened a gym in the scheme.
The sale is also set to include the Glass Box, situated in Point Square, Dublin’s first ‘glass box’ restaurant which is nearing completion and currently available to let.
While the 252-bedroom Gibson Hotel, owned by Deka Immobilien and operated by Dalata, forms part of the wider scheme, this, together with the 95,000sq ft anchor store owned by Dunnes Stores, are held separately via long-leasehold interests and are not included in the sale.
Point Square is well-located within Dublin's thriving north docklands. The scheme is situated immediately adjacent to Live Nation's hugely-successful 3 Arena, a venue which ordinarily hosts more than 100 concerts a year, and within a short walk of Point Campus Student Accommodation, a development comprising 966 student accommodation beds, acquired by German investor DWS in 2019. The development is also located next to Dublin's tallest office building, the Exo, which is under construction. Due for completion in the third quarter of this year, some 100,000sq ft of the 17-storey building's 169,000sq ft of office accommodation is set to be occupied by An Post following the relocation of its headquarters from the GPO on O'Connell Street.
Office-led developments
Outside of its immediate vicinity, Point Square is surrounded by a number of other large-scale office-led developments including Dublin Landings, the one million square foot scheme delivered by Sean Mulryan's Ballymore and its partners, Oxley; Spencer Place – Ronan Group Real Estate's mixed-use development comprising 379,000sq ft of Grade A office accommodation (pre-let to Salesforce) and 329 apartments; and TIO's North Dock, which comprises a 241-bedroom aparthotel and two Grade A office buildings extending to 200,000sq ft. Point Square should also benefit from its proximity to the planned Pembroke Quarter. The development of the former Irish Glass Bottle site is expected to deliver 3,800 new homes and over one million sq ft of commercial space.
While Savills say they consider Point Square to be one of the best asset management and value-add opportunities to come to the market in Dublin in recent years, the scheme is already generating rental income of €4.9 million. The majority of this – 80 per cent – is being derived from the offices occupied by Oath (Yahoo!) and Voxpro. These offices are let at an average passing rent of €36 per sq ft, offering reversionary potential, and have a weighted average unexpired lease term of 2.7 years.
A feasibility study prepared in advance of the sale suggests that there is potential, subject to planning permission, to add extra floors at roof level of the office block.
Commenting on the proposed sale, Fergus O'Farrell, investment director at Savills said: "Point Square offers investors a rare opportunity to put in place an innovative and exciting asset management strategy while collecting significant rent roll. The retail component of Point Square offers buyers a blank canvas to put their stamp on this project, situated in an area that has undergone transformational change in recent years and where the likes of Microsoft, Salesforce and the Central Bank call home along with 25,000 residents."
