Dublin is ‘more than capable’ of providing post-Brexit office demand

Dublin has more than enough office stock in the pipeline to cater for any rise in demand from companies relocating as a result of Brexit.

This is according to Marie Hunt, of CBRE, who notes that the "bigger issue" which needs to be tackled "is to ensure that there is sufficient housing and adequate infrastructure to facilitate this additional demand".

Ms Hunt claims that there is almost 285,000sq m – or 1.65 times Dublin’s annual average take-up – of office accommodation available to let in the capital.

“This contradicts the view that there is no office stock available to let in Dublin at present.”

However, there are parts of the city with a severe shortage of office space.

The Dublin 2/4 post districts, for example, have a Grade A vacancy rate of close to 2 per cent – that’s about 31,500sq m at the end of the third quarter of 2016.

In its latest research, CBRE suggests there is 372,637sq m (4 million sq ft) of office space in 29 schemes under construction in the city centre of which 22 per cent is reserved.

This level of construction in Dublin city centre equates to just over two years’ supply and will add around 10 per cent to the city’s stock of office space.

Suburbs

Ms Hunt points out that a further 80,000sq m of new office stock is under construction in the suburbs.

“A further 433,159sq m (4.6 million sq ft) in 38 individual city centre schemes has a grant of planning permission and could also be commenced, if required, while a further 73,473sq m (790,569sq ft) of city centre stock has applied for planning permission.

“The visibility on potential delivery should give comfort to potential occupiers that Dublin is more than capable of providing sufficient high-quality office accommodation if required.

“There is therefore considerable scope to cater for any additional requirements for office accommodation that may materialise as a result of Brexit.”

CBRE estimates that the Dublin office market extends to more than 3.7 million sq m (40 million sq ft) of which more than 60 per cent is in the city centre where over 70 per cent of leasing is concentrated.