Landmark Victorian office investment on Dublin’s Earlsfort Terrace for €8.75m

Having secured about €5.25 million from the off-market sale last year of numbers 22,23 and 23 Dawson Street to a syndicate of private Irish investors, the owner and chief executive of Core Capital, Derek McGrath, is looking to dispose of another of his personal property investments.

On this occasion, McGrath is seeking a buyer for The Victorians a complete and historically intact terrace of four Victorian buildings on Earlsfort Terrace in the heart of Dublin’s central business district. Numbers 15-18 Earlsfort Terrace – flanked on either side by the headquarters of leading law firm Arthur Cox and the newly completed Cadenza Building – are being offered for sale by agent Bannon on an off-market basis at a guide price of €8.75 million. Should a sale proceed at that level, the buyer would be in line for a net initial yield of about 5.5 per based on the property’s annual rental income of €523,486.80.

The four buildings are occupied by the serviced-office operator Iconic Offices under three separate co-terminus leases. Numbers 15-16 are linked and let under one lease, while numbers 17-18 are let under stand-alone leases. These separate leases should offer the purchaser longer-term flexibility to sell each individual leased asset at a future date.

The four Victorians, built originally in 1881, have all been carefully refurbished and upgraded. Each building comprises bright and spacious accommodation and original Victorian features including decorative plasterwork, chandeliers, grand staircases and open fireplaces. The office space is complemented by a fully fitted kitchen, three boardrooms, communal breakout lounges and shower facilities.

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Iconic Offices is one of the leading serviced-office providers in Dublin. It operates from 16 locations in the capital and has recently extended its operation to Cork with the NSQ2 building. Iconic specialise in boutique-office spaces that cater to smaller businesses and hybrid-working schedules. Iconic’s parent company, Weston Office Solutions, has been given a Vision-Net score of 64, which indicates a “fair trade risk” associated with the business.

As is the case with the wider office-letting market, the operation of Iconic’s business suffered during the Covid-19 pandemic. It has recovered since then thanks to the growth of flexible and hybrid-working models.

The investment’s owner, Derek McGrath, is best known as the chief executive and owner of Core Capital. The company, established in 2007, acts as a specialist adviser to private investors in Dublin and alongside private and institutional investors in the acquisition and development of commercial real estate in Ireland, the UK, the US and in Germany.

In Dublin, Core Capital is involved in development and investment transactions in offices, retail and hospitality with a combined value of about €1 billion.

Arguably the most high-profile of these projects is Core’s partnership with Europa Capital and Paddy McKillen jnr’s Oakmount in the restoration and redevelopment of the former Clerys department store on O’Connell Street. Clerys Quarter, as it will now be known, is due to open later this year and will comprise a mix of retail, offices, a hotel and a rooftop bar.