Sandyford Business District site with scope for new office scheme for €5m

Agent Knight Frank is guiding a price in excess of €5 million (exclusive) for a 0.33 hectare (0.84 acre) site with significant redevelopment potential at the South County Business Park in Leopardstown, Dublin 18.

The subject site currently comprises a two-storey office premises let in its entirety to Soft-ex Communications Ltd. There are seven years remaining on the current lease at an annual rent of €162,500 per annum with a rent review due in 2021.

While the existing property will provide the purchaser with immediate income, the selling agent describes the site as being "underdeveloped" when viewed in the context of the strong take-up of office space in the Sandyford Business District (SBD) over recent years. With some 25,083sq m (270,000sq ft) of letting activity taking place in 2018 alone, the overall vacancy rate and Grade A vacancy rates in the SBD have fallen to just 3.1 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively.

Tight vacancy

A further breakdown of those numbers shows, out of the three office locations, South County Business Park has the lowest vacancy rate in the SBD at just 0.4 per cent. This tight vacancy has seen rents double from the mid-teens to over €30 per sq ft. The South County Business Park is occupied by a wealth of leading employers including Microsoft, Accenture and SSE Airtricity.

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In terms of its development potential, the subject property falls within Zone 3 which provides for “office-based employment uses” under the Sandyford County Development Plan 2016-2022. A feasibility study, prepared by Reddy Architecture in advance of the sale, suggests the site could accommodate a new office scheme extending to 5,100sq m (54,900sq ft) in a five-storey over-basement office block which is permissible under the current development plan (subject to planning permission).

The site is readily accessible to the city centre by car or bus via the nearby N11. The property also benefits from its close proximity to the Luas green line stop, where the journey time to St Stephen’s Green is approximately 25 minutes.

Knight Frank expects the property to attract significant interest from developers and owner-occupiers looking for one of Sandyford’s last remaining high-profile sites.