Dublin costly for office rentals

DUBLIN ranks as the third most expensive city in Europe in which to rent office space.

Central Dublin office rental prices are only cheaper than London and Paris. Tenants looking to lease prime new office buildings in the centre of Dublin can currently expect to incur quoting rental levels of up to €538 per square metre.

In terms of world markets, only Tokyo, Hong Kong, Moscow and New York rank as being more expensive outside of western Europe. London’s West End is still the most expensive office space in Europe.

Despite this, Dublin remains competitive as worldwide demand for office space continues to rise.

While the top class A rent in Dublin for the first half of this year was €538 per square metre, the average was €376. The existing office floor space within Dublin city centre was recorded as 1.38 million square metres with another 60,000 square metres under construction.

Demand for office accommodation in Cork was also active during the first half of this year.

The take-up of available office space in Cork was up 56% (20,850 square metres) on the same period last year, with only 19% in the city centre and the rest in suburban areas.

The top quoting rents for Cork city centre were €300 per square metre and €140-€180 per square metre for suburban areas. The total amount of available office space in Cork is around 382,000 square metres, with some 55,000 square metres currently under construction.

Michael Donohue, director with real estate consultants Colliers Jackson-Stops, which has just issued its International Global Office Survey, said: “During the first six months of this year, office markets worldwide continued to tighten in the face of healthy demand and global economic conditions continued to improve in most regions with a subsequent boost in demand for office space. The prognosis for the global office market is for vacancy rates to fall and rents to rise in the remainder of 2005 and into 2006.”

Also released yesterday was CB Richard Ellis Gunne’s quarterly research guide on the Dublin office market. While it indicates ongoing strong activity in office letting activity in the capital, it says a rising trend in the market has been a “significant” lengthening in the amount of time it takes to conclude negotiations.