Property developer Sean Dunne is seeking in excess of £6.5 million for a high-profile Dublin office building rented by the State. The 43,000square-foot block, Grattan Court, at Grand Canal Street, is currently producing a rent of £547,500 per annum; £6.5 million would equate to a net yield of almost 8 per cent. Willie Dowling of Gunne, who is to sell the building by tender on November 14th, said that with five-year money available at 7.2 per cent, Grattan Court would obviously appeal to private investors and property companies.

The building, which has 86 car-parking spaces at basement level, is rented to the Office of Public Works under a 35-year lease, which has another nine years to run. After shedding a large volume of space over the past five years, the OPW is now back in the market looking for accommodation for Government departments and State agencies. Mr Dunne bought Grattan Court in a private transaction last December for £5 million at a time when the rent was £425,000. The 28.8 per cent increase set in a recent rent review greatly enhanced the value of the investment.