State's largest office landlord Hibernia Reit keen on future Cork expansion

Hibernia Reit chief executive Kevin Nowlan said such a move would be reliant on an increase in residential accommodation investment in Cork and more rental stock coming on stream in the city.

The State’s largest office landlord Hibernia Reit is keen to expand to Cork over the longer term.

Chief executive Kevin Nowlan said the company is likely to remain 100% focused on its Dublin-based commercial property portfolio for some time. However, he said Hibernia will “probably” enter the Cork office property market “in time”. 

Such a move, he said, would be reliant on an increase in residential accommodation investment in Cork and more rental stock coming on stream in the city, which would attract more companies.

Mr Nowlan was speaking on the back of Hibernia Reit posting a first-half post-tax profit of €21.2m for the six months to the end of September. 

That was a turnaround from a loss of €34.2m for the same period last year. The latest profit was largely comprised of rental income.

Hibernia – which counts the likes of Twitter and 3M amongst its tenants – looks set to be the last Irish-owned commercial property Reit, with Green Reit having been sold and Yew Grove Reit this week announcing a takeover approach from a Canadian suitor.

Mr Nowlan said the company saw a pick-up in tenant take-up in Dublin since May and has “an exciting development pipeline” ready to start in 2022, with funding in place to deliver it.

“We remain optimistic about our longer-term prospects,” he said.

Hibernia is also in advanced discussions with KPMG regarding a pre-let deal at its Harcourt Square development in Dublin.