US property giant set for €530m Irish office sale
US-based property investment fund Starwood Property Trust is understood to be preparing to sell a portfolio of offices in Dublin, in one of Ireland’s biggest real estate sales.
Starwood is understood to have hired commercial property agents CBRE and Eastdil Secured to sell the offices in central Dublin for about €530m. The portfolio could be placed on the market as soon as next month.
Starwood bought the portfolio in 2015 as Ireland recovered from the worst property crash in western Europe after the global financial crisis. A host of international investors bought Irish real estate after the collapse, and have since sold on as prices recovered.
The offering comes as Green Reit, one of the country’s biggest property firms, is up for sale, and together, the two sales will represent a test of investor confidence in Ireland’s latest real estate boom.
Among the offices included in the Starwood sale will be the Watermarque Building in Dublin’s so-called Silicon Docks area. Starwood’s tenants in Dublin include Marsh and McLennan, Airbnb and WeWork.
Green Reit’s decision to put itself up for sale, in April, was met with surprise and sparked considerable debate about the outlook for the Irish commercial property market.
That company owns Cork office complex One Albert Quay and a host of prime office locations in Dublin as well as a huge logistics facility at Dublin Airport.
