Ensemble of historic buildings purchased in Dublin

• Some of these historic buildings received the LEED Certification in Gold

The KanAm Grund Group has purchased an ensemble of historic buildings at 30-33 Molesworth Street for one of its special real estate funds. The fully let portfolio with around 5,300 square meters of office space consists of four independent buildings. All date back to the mid-19th century and have undergone comprehensive refurbishment over the last 20 years, some were completely rebuilt, retaining only the old facade. Molesworth Street is one of Dublin’s most prestigious office addresses. One of Europe’s most renowned universities, Trinity College, and St. Stephen’s Green are in the vicinity of Molesworth Street, and the Irish Parliament building is only a few hundred meters away. The city center, including one of its principal shopping streets, Grafton Street, is only a few minutes’ walk away. The portfolio joins the KanAm Grund European Cities KI special real estate fund, which is mainly used by savings and loans institutions, and cooperative banks. The Seller is Henderson Park, a pan-European private equity real estate manager based in London. It has been agreed to keep the sales price confidential.

The building at 32 Molesworth Street is the largest building in the portfolio in terms of area. It is fully let to the international law firm Maples for the long-term. During the building’s comprehensive refurbishment in 2016, large parts of it were rebuilt, while the historic exterior facade was maintained. Within the framework of this refurbishment work, the building received a LEED GOLD certification, attesting to its sustainability. The other buildings in the portfolio are let to property agents Savills Commercial Ireland, a corporate law firm, a law firm, an employment agency, a multi-family-office, and an international auction house.

Dublin, Ireland’s capital and most populous city, has seen its population grow by 11.6% between 2010 and 2020. The Dublin office market is divided into the segments Dublin 1, Dublin 2, and Dublin Docklands. Molesworth Street is located in Dublin 2, home to mostly historic office buildings with smaller floor layouts, which generally offer little opportunity for property development. Dublin 2 also includes the Grand Canal and the South Docklands. As an EU member country, The Republic of Ireland, with its geographic proximity to the UK and common language is expected to experience an economic impetus in the wake of the BREXIT. This may be one of the reasons why the Covid-Pandemic does not seem to have had a significant effect on the Irish property market.

KanAm Grund Group are continuously adding to their portfolios for institutional investors. The KanAm Grund European Cities KI, now invested in two locations, namely Lyon in France and Dublin in the Republic of Ireland, adds to a growing family of specialized institutional funds by KanAm Grund Group, including other KanAm Grund Group funds investing beyond Germany throughout Europe. The real estate of these funds is located in France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Germany. Clients investing in this KanAm Grund Group family of funds include banks with their depot A investments, enterprises and church assets, pension funds and high-net worth family assets.