South Mall office cluster up for sale for €1.3m

An office cluster on the South Mall, in Cork City, will go to auction with Allsop Space on Wednesday, October 22, at a rough guide of €1.3m-€1.45m.

The offices, which broke onto the market late last year with Savills at a guide of €1.5m, are housed in three separate but conjoined buildings on Cork’s premier business district.

No’s 57-59 South Mall are opposite Bank Of Ireland’s headquarters and close to AIB’s major presence at No 66 South Mall.

The office package, which includes a carpark at nearby Margaret St, is being sold on behalf of a receiver — but it’s generally acknowledged that commercial property is now being offloaded by lenders at a swift rate, as banks seek a return to ‘purer’ balance sheets in a revived market.

The capital gains tax incentive for commercial property has increased transactional activity throughout the country. In Cork, office sales have risen by 60% in a three-year period.

With quality covenants and a rent roll of 164,500, the offices extend over to 14,500 sq ft of space, (generating most of its revenue from three blue-chip tenants). In addition, the 0.14-acre carpark section produces 22,500 per annum.

At the time of the private treaty sale last year, Savills, said the block offered an investment with “guaranteed income and potential rental uplift, once the unoccupied portion has been rented”.