Investor agrees to pay £4.6m for O'Connell Street offices

THE Aer Lingus Pilots Pension Fund has agreed terms at around £4.6 million for the sale of an office building occupied by Fingal County Council in O'Connell Street, Dublin 1.

A second office sale seems on the cards in Dublin's International Financial Services Centre, where a new group of developers has said it is "close to a deal" with the Dutch bank, ABN-Amro. The bank, which owns Riada Stockbrokers, is likely to pay about £13 million for a 42,000-square-foot air-conditioned block, which has been designed as the flagship of the Custom House Plaza scheme.

The private investor buying the O'Connell Street building will initially use it as an investment but will have an opportunity to negotiate vacant possession because of the council's plans to move to a new headquarters building in Swords within three years.

The council is running an international architectural competition to decide the design of its headquarters, which will cost about £10 million.

The council occupies the 41,050-square-foot block under two leases, which do not expire until 2010. The current rent of £383,980 is under review.

The new owner is expected to convert the building into a hotel if and when he negotiates the council's departure. In addition to five storeys of offices, the block has 102 car-parking spaces at two levels, which could possibly be redeveloped as hotel space.

Jones Lang Wootton, which offered the building for sale last October, refused to comment yesterday.

The office building was one of four adjoining properties at the upper end of O'Connell Street proposed as a venue for a national conference centre and casino. Planning permission has been granted for the development, though the Government has indicted that it favours the RDS, in Ballsbridge, as a venue for the conference centre.

ANB-Amro has been in discussions since last April to acquire a block in the IFSC. Last month, the Hardwick-British Land consortium lost patience with the bank and sold part of the space it had earmarked to Irish Intercontinental Bank. This meant that ANB-Amro then had no option but to negotiate with Mr Brian Rhatigan's company if it wanted to move into the IFSC in the next year.

A spokesman for Mr Rhatigan said detailed discussions were taking place with ANB-Amro "and we are close to a deal".

If the transaction goes ahead, it will provide an important kick-start for the plaza development, which will replace the former Sheriff Street sorting office. The scheme will include a further 145,000 square feet, which is available for sale or for letting in units upwards from 20,000 square feet.

Mr Rhatigan's company originally quoted rents of £25 per square foot for the plaza. These rents are now being looked at again and may be raised, according to the letting agent, Peter Stapleton, of Lisney.

The Hardwick-British Land consortium is involved in several projects which will ensure the IFSC is fully developed by autumn, 1997. Tenders are being sought to develop 105,000 square feet of offices, which will complete the office element and bring total space to more than one million square feet.