Dubliners to get first glimpse of new landmark building on St Stephen’s Green

Dubliners are to get their first glimpse of a new landmark office building in the next fortnight when the scaffolding is removed from the six-storey block on the corner of St Stephen’s Green and Earlsfort Terrace.

The LXV Building, funded by telecoms billionaire Denis O’Brien, will be the first significant office development to be completed in the city since the property crash.

One of the world’s largest aircraft leasing companies, Aercap, is to pay a new benchmark rent of €645 per sq m (€60 per sq ft) for the building as well as fit-out costs estimated at around €5 million. This work will take another six months to complete.

The rent roll for the 5,574sq m (60,000sq ft) block will come to around €3.6 million per annum, while the 41 car parking spaces in the double basement will account for a further €164,000 annually.

Low supply

Declan O’Reilly of Knight Frank,who handled the letting, said Aercap was one of a number of international companies looking for high-quality office space at the beginning of the year but because of the relatively low supply some of these still had not found premises.

Architect Andy Richardson of deBlacam and Meagher has promised a new building “with a simple and strong appearance”. He says it has been built from large slabs of a particular Portland stone with fossilised shells giving it a lively and textured appearance. “The stone is so distinctive that everything else is kept understated, making the stone the main event.”

Mr O’Brien has watched the capital value of his new building strengthen over the summer months as Irish and overseas funds competing strongly for prime office investments pushed yields to as low as 4.5 per cent. Mr O’Brien acquired the rundown Canada House block in 2001 for €25 million and is spending around €30 million on its redevelopment.

Developments

The early letting of the block, built by contractor Bernard McNamara as part of his post-bankruptcy comeback, has triggered several more office developments in the city centre. One of these will be next door on St Stephen’s Green where Irish Life Investment Managers have secured a grant of permission to replace the 1966 block Hainault House with a high-spec building with considerably more floor space extending to 5,388sq m (58,000sq ft).

The next substantial office scheme expected to attract rents of €60 per sq ft is likely to be the former Bank of Ireland headquarters on Lower Baggot Street which is currently being remodelled and redeveloped by beef baron Larry Goodman. He is spending some €100 million on upgrading the three blocks which have an overall floor area of 20,345sq m (219,000sq ft).