Dublin’s industrial and logistics market recorded its strongest quarter in almost three years, with 824K SF taken up across 17 deals, according to Savills Ireland.

Takeup rose 65% year-on-year, bringing the total for the first nine months of 2026 to 1.9M SF and putting the market on course to exceed 2025’s total of 2.4M SF.

Four deals exceeded 100K SF during the quarter, lifting the average transaction size to 48,500 SF, the largest average since late 2023.

South-west Dublin accounted for 84% of takeup, up from a five-year average of 52%. All five of the quarter’s largest deals were in this submarket, including two lettings at Mountpark Grange Castle West, where more than 450K SF of speculative development completed last year has now been let.

The concentration of activity pushed the south-west vacancy rate down from 3.1% in Q2 to 1.5%, while Dublin’s overall vacancy rate fell from 2.8% to 2.6%.

“The third quarter has been particularly strong for Dublin's industrial and logistics market, with a clear return of larger transactions,” Savills Ireland Director of Industrial and Logistics Jarlath Lynn said in a statement.

“While we have seen new supply coming through, availability remains extremely limited in certain locations. With vacancy in the south-west now at just 1.5%, occupiers looking for larger facilities have relatively few options, particularly where they have specific operational or location requirements.”

Demand for modern accommodation remained strong, with buildings completed since 2020 accounting for 49% of space taken during the quarter. Third-party logistics operators accounted for 48% of takeup, followed by industrial occupiers at 23% and first-party logistics operators at 21%.

Savills also pointed to data centre-related activity and associated infrastructure as sources of demand amid continued investment in artificial intelligence.

This looks set to continue, with Echelon Data Centres establishing Ireland’s first Green Energy Park at its Dub20 data centre campus in Arklow, County Wicklow, with a new shared 220-kilovolt substation connecting the data centre and SSE’s 800-megawatt Arklow Bank Wind Park 2 offshore wind project, on-site solar energy generation and on-site battery storage.

Prime rents increased by €0.25 per SF during the quarter to €14.75 per SF, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of growth and a €1-per-SF increase over 12 months, while secondary rents rose to €11.75 per SF.

A total of 405K SF of new accommodation was completed during Q3 across seven units, with 89% of the space in north Dublin. A further 200K SF is scheduled for completion in Q4, taking anticipated 2026 deliveries to just over 1M SF, below the five-year annual average of 1.4M SF.

In addition, approximately 1.4M SF is scheduled for completion in 2027, potentially easing some supply constraints, although the availability of larger units in the most sought-after locations remains limited.