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Despite geopolitical uncertainty, Dublin occupier demand and rental momentum remained robust in the first quarter, according to CBRE.
Office takeup totaled 409K SF across 44 deals in Q1, 6% below Q1 2025's 437K SF.
Nearly 947K SF of office space is now reserved, with around half concentrated in Dublin 2, highlighting continued core central business district demand.
Prime headline rents in ongoing negotiations are now moving beyond €65 per SF, according to the agent’s latest research, while it predicts that office rents are moving toward €70 per SF, with a rent of at least €75 per SF needed to make new office development viable.
The largest leasing deal of the quarter was signed by MetroLink at the 50K SF Building 2, Coopers Cross.
Other key occupier transactions across Dublin’s core submarkets included MetroLink, Rippling’s sublease at 1 Cumberland Place, plus Four and Five Park Place, with space taken by Orix Aviation Systems and a large U.S. insurance group.
CBRE highlighted the Orix transaction as significant, as the Japanese-listed aircraft leasing group relocated from Dublin 4 into the core CBD, continuing the flight-to-core theme.
Despite oil price rises, CBRE added that demand held up in previous quarters when Brent crude prices peaked above $120 per barrel following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine War.
On the investment front, CBRE said capital is becoming increasingly selective, while value opportunities in the secondary and value-add office market have undergone a significant repricing cycle.
Office investment volumes totalled €113M across 10 transactions, exceeding the €87.4M recorded in Q1 2025.
“This reset is continuing to uncover opportunities for investors willing to underwrite shorter income, refurbishment risk and re-letting strategies, placing the office sector in a position not dissimilar to Irish retail assets in recent years, where investors look likely to be able to secure material upside following a period of prolonged price discovery,” CBRE said.
It said investors are targeting relative value and income return, even where lease lengths are shorter or capital expenditure is required in the near term. In Q1, office investment was led by the €23.25M sale of The Hive, Sandyford, Dublin 18, to Ardvest, representing the largest south suburban office transaction since 2023.
In Dublin 4, the £18M sale of No 2 Ballsbridge Park highlights increasing investor willingness to engage with development and refurbishment-led strategies, CBRE said.
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