Eircom is to sell three Dublin properties - the Cablelink office investment in Ballsbridge, a vacant office building in Ringsend and an adjoining development site of 1.33 acres. The sales are expected to yield at least £16 million. Meanwhile, Eircom is understood to have agreed sale terms at around £2.7 million for Aldborough House, a listed period building at Portland Row in the north inner city. The once great Georgian mansion has almost 27,000 sq. ft of offices and 90 on-site car-parking spaces.
Gunne Commercial is quoting in excess of £5.25 million for the Cablelink building beside the Herbert Park Hotel, at Pembroke Place, which is currently producing a rental income of £247,000 per annum. The sale has been on the cards since Eircom sold the Cablelink business last summer to NTL for £535 million. The two-storey office building has a floor area of 15,515 sq ft and is let on a 35-year lease from 1978. Gunne estimates the open market rental value of the building is currently £326,000.
Ronan Webster of Gunne says the building should be of interest to developers and investors because of the potential to redevelop the site in the long term. With NTL likely to expand its business activities over the coming years, it will be no great surprise if it relocates to a larger headquarters in the city.
The Cablelink building has a particularly low density by comparison with the adjoining Herbert Park Hotel, and the seven-storey over basement Embassy House, a 50,000 sq. ft office building completed at the same time as the hotel. Stephen Cassidy of Hamilton Osborne King is handling the sale of the two Ringsend properties, which, like the Cablelink building, are to be sold by tender. First to be offered for sale is a 10,000 sq. ft office building off Ringsend Road, which is expected to make over £2.5 million.
The three-storey block dates from the 1950s and was formerly owned by the Irish Glass and Bottle Company. The building is listed for preservation and stands on a site of just over one quarter of an acre, which can accommodate 10 onsite car-parking spaces. Whoever buys the block will have no difficulty in finding a tenant because of the immense shortage of office space in the city.
The adjoining site of 1.33 acres fronts directly on to Grand Canal Quay and is the first significant piece of development land to come on the market in the south docklands area for some time. It is likely to make well in excess of £8 million when it goes to tender on February 9th, according to the selling agents. Mr Cassidy is advising potential buyers that a plot ratio of 2.5 and three to one is permitted in this area in buildings of up to six storeys.
A feasibility study suggests that planning permission might be obtained for a mixed development of 78,000 sq. ft of offices and 118 apartments. The land adjoins the Ringsend bus depot and is close to the site identified by CIE for the proposed Barrow Street DART station. With office space and apartments both in short supply in the city, Eircom can expect strong interest in the site.
