Korean private REIT, JR AMC, is the successful bidder for WeWork’s new Dublin headquarters, No 2 The Landings.
Due to complete shortly, it will be the second purchase in Dublin this year by a south Korean investor, following the acquisition of The Beckett in Dublin 3, at a 4.15% yield, by KB Securities. Irish developer Ballymore and its Singapore partner Oxley are developing Dublin Landings on an area of the city’s North Wall Quay which will eventually provide 93,000 m2 (1 m sq ft).
They put No 2 The Landings, their second building there, on the market in May through CBRE and Knight Frank, with a guide price of €98.8 mln.
JR AMC is being advised by German asset manager KanAm and is paying €107 mln, a circa 4.5% yield, for the 9,245 m2 building which has been let to WeWork on a 20-year lease with no breaks. The initial rent is approximately €4.8 mln a year with a fixed increase at first review. Colliers International is advising the buyers.
Asian capital was also behind the acquisition of Ireland’s telecoms company Eir’s headquarters. US private equity firm Northwood Investment Corporation sold Heuston South Quarter, in Dublin 8, to Hong Kong’s CK Properties for €176 mln, a 5.7% yield.
Ballymore and Oxley sold No 1 Dublin Landings which adjoins WeWork’s building, to Germany’s Triuva. All the No 1 space is let to Ireland’s National Treasury Management Agency.
JR AMC made its debut European investment in May acquiring the Vienna office headquarters of the Porr construction group for €60 mln. It was advised by Knight Frank Investment Management.
In another office sale in the Irish capital, McGarell Reilly Group has just sold The Sharp Building let to Perrigo, at Hogan Place in Dublin 2, to a fund advised by Credit Suisse. The buyer is paying €56.3 mln, a 4.4% yield.
Korean investors continue to be competitive bidders for London offices, with KB Securities under offer to buy 1 Cabot Square, E14 and 125 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1, and Industrial Bank of Korea said to be buying One Poultry next to the Bank of England.
This article first appeared in EuroProperty, PropertyEU's weekly news and analysis bulletin.
