South Korean investor to acquire Bishop’s Square for €180m-plus

South Korean real estate investment firm IGIS Asset Management has been selected as the preferred bidder for the Bishop’s Square office scheme in Dublin city centre.

IGIS, which has some €22.4 billion in assets under management globally, has agreed to pay in excess of the €180 million price guided by agent CBRE when it brought the property to the market just over two months ago.

The expected completion of the deal will represent a particular coup for the building’s current owners, Hines. The US-headquartered real estate giant acquired Bishop’s Square in 2015 from New York-based investment firm King Street Capital for €92.5 million.

CBRE and Hines declined to comment on the matter when contacted by The Irish Times.

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Taking the Kevin Street property’s €180 million guide price as a benchmark, IGIS could expect to secure a net initial yield of 4.04 per cent based upon its current rent roll of €7.881 million.

Rental income

Some 86 per cent of the rental income is accounted for by Government tenants, namely the OPW and Tourism Ireland. Other tenants include Starbucks and International Financial Data Services.

Located on Kevin Street at the heart of Dublin’s central business district and within a short walk of St Stephen’s Green, Bishop’s Square is a grade-A office building.

Built originally in 2002 by developer Bernard McNamara, the building has undergone a significant programme of improvement work since coming under Hines’s ownership four years ago.

The US developer’s construction in the interim of a new penthouse floor and the extension of the building’s fourth and fifth floors has increased the property’s overall floor area from 14,213 sq m (153,000 sq ft) to 16,980sq m (182,774sq ft).

Other improvement work includes the provision of six new lifts, an upgraded reception area, and the delivery of a full-height atrium to increase the flow of natural light.