Murphy Mulhall in Estates Gazette’s Ireland Focus

A wave of multinationals and small start-ups want to sail into Dublin. But office supply is low. Will prelets and refurbs deal with the influx? Alex Horne of Estates Gazette reports.

Ireland is facing an office supply problem. Office vacancy in Dublin is at its lowest recorded level. At the same time, take-up was 20% up last year compared with 2013. However, development is not keeping pace with demand, which poses the question – how will the country maintain growth at this crucial point in its recovery?

James Mulhall from niche agency Murphy Mulhall says: “All space is built to order now and most serious developers aren’t going to come over from the UK to build in a market as small as Dublin.”

The fastest-growing companies in Dublin are found in the tech sector, a huge driver of Ireland’s recovery. A massive 39% of demand comes from the sector, but the Irish market is failing to meet its needs. Tech companies tend to enter the market with a small space and then expand. But this doesn’t suit developers, which are looking for large prelets to anchor developments. To compound the problem, most of the serviced offices in Dublin are now full. Similarly, flexible leases are attractive to the TMT sector, but landlords are increasingly unwilling to provide them. Mulhall says: “After things went bad, everyone thought flexible leases would be standard, but longer and more landlord-friendly leases are the norm. It’s the exact opposite of what occupiers need in a recovering economy.”

Click the link below to read the full article. 

2015.03.20 Estates Gazette – Ireland Focus – A Wave of Demand