Construction BUSINESS

International tech companies continued to dominate the capital’s commercial office market in 2017 and are expected to do so again this year. Analysis from the Lisney report, Lisney 2018, ‘Our View’ highlights the impact these large and rapidly expanding companies are having on the market. Facebook and Google alone are on track to occupy 4% of all commercial office space in Dublin’s city centre in 2018 with their total space amounting to 38,500 and 74,600 square meters respectively.

The Lisney analysis also shows that the completion of new office buildings will increase marginally this year. An anticipated total of 189,000 square metres of new office stock will come on stream in 2018 with 37,000 square metres of this located outside the city centre. However, of the city centre space due to be completed during 2018, 68% is already pre-let or reserved.

Valesco Building at Grand Canal, Dublin 2 – let by Google in 2017. Agents: Lisney.

Looking ahead to 2019, the report highlights the urgent need for construction of commercial office space to ‘ramp up’ significantly in order to keep pace with predicted demand, although only 26,800 square metres is due to be completed in Dublin city centre in 2019. To put this in context, the total 2019 city centre completion estimate amounts to less than the space Facebook currently occupy in the market.

With demand for office space at an all-time high, vacancy rates, which are a key benchmark of the health of the commercial property sector, are now running at a headline rate of 8.7% in Dublin (6.9% in City Centre). Vacancy rates this low have not been seen since 2000. Conclusions in the Lisney report indicate that the ferocious appetite from overseas occupiers coupled with the low level of completions is putting indigenous Irish businesses looking to rent space in the city under pressure.

Speaking at the publication of the Lisney outlook for 2018, James Nugent, Chairman and Head of Offices at Lisney, said: “With almost all new office space fully let by the time it is completed, competition remains intense. There is evidence of blue-chip international companies winning out over indigenous Irish companies. In reality indigenous businesses are struggling to match the rent paying ability of overseas occupiers.”

The full report can be downloaded from the following link: http://www.lisneymedia.com/ourview2018/

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Pictured (from left to right): Duncan Lyster, Managing Director; Aoife Brennan, Director, Research; andDavid Byrne, Director, Residential Sales; at the launch of ‘Lisney 2018, Our View’ at the Stella Theatre, Rathmines.