Hardwicke in €19m canal development

Once one of Ireland's top property investment and development companies, Mark Kavanagh's Hardwicke Ltd is to re-enter the Dublin development market after an absence of 14 years to handle the construction of an

office building at Clanwilliam Place in Dublin 2. Mr Kavanagh is also believed to be looking at a number of other potential projects.

The new seven-storey block with a glass façade and an internal floor area of 4,738sq m (51,000sq ft) will be more than three times larger than Kestrel House, a 1980s building overlooking the Grand Canal, which is to be demolished to make way for the new €19 million block. Kestrel House was bought in an off-market deal from quantity surveyors Bruce Shaw Partnership for around €10 million.

Hardwicke has formed a partnership with Ardstone Capital, an independent investment management company, to get construction under way this summer with the intention of having the building ready for occupation towards the end of 2016.

Hardwicke’s reappearance on the construction front will be widely welcomed at a time when there are relatively few development companies with the resources or the necessary experience to embark on major office projects.

There are already fears that a shortage of new office space in the Dublin area later this year could hamper direct investment.

John Moran, managing director agents JLL who will be the letting agents for the Clanwilliam Place building, said it would be Hardwicke's first development in Ireland since they completed 2 Burlington Road in 2001. It was successfully let to the EBS.

The Kestrel House deal is an example of a new feature in the Irish market where local developers are being used as a delivery platform for overseas capital, in this case from Ardstone/CBRE investors. “This is a welcome development, matching local construction skills with overseas equity, and helping to deliver both offices and residential units where there are currently acute supply shortages.”

Donal O’Neill of Ardstone said they were delighted to be working with Hardwicke, a developer whose reputation and experience were widely respected. “It is the right time in the Dublin office market cycle to deliver grade-A office properties to suit the occupational needs of tenants seeking city centre accommodation.”

Brian Owens, the Hardwicke chief executive, said that along with Ardstone and a first-class design team they would be bringing forward another Hardwicke building which would help alleviate the obvious pent up demand for prime office space in Dublin's central business district.

Hardwicke is best remembered for its involvement with British Land in the development of the first phase of the International Financial Services Centre, the largest single project of its kind in Ireland. The development programme started with the three landmark buildings at the front of the centre, then continued with six blocks in George's Dock, four more in Harbourmaster, a range of own-door units in Exchange Place, then Jurys Hotel and finally the large apartment scheme. Much of the vast building programme was undertaken in extremely difficult economic conditions.

Hardwicke was established back in 1934 and has developed and managed more than two million square feet of office and mixed-use accommodation in Ireland, Europe, the USA and Africa. Mr Kavanagh has resided in the US for much of the past decade.

Ardstone is owned and managed by its principals and since the middle of 2012 it has invested over €350 million across 20 separate deals in the Irish and UK markets