Industry & Business

Dublin industrial take up for 2018 totalled 3.3 million sq ft which is a 31% increase on last year. Whilst activity was dominated by smaller deals, take-up totals were boosted by a number of larger-sized deals.

There were 14 deals greater than 50,000 sq ft in the last 12 months. The top 5 deals this year, accounted for 25% of total take-up. Activity was particularly strong in the final 2 quarters of the year.

Hannah Dwyer, Director and Head of Research at JLL, said: “Year-end take-up was strong for 2018, with solid performance in Q3 boosting totals. We are forecasting that total volumes in 2019 achieve similar levels of approximately 3 million sq ft. This will be dependent on supply coming on to the market, and continued interest from companies looking to take space. As the uncertainty around Brexit continues, we have seen some occupiers stalling in their decision-making processes, and until further clarity of the Brexit outcome is confirmed, this is set to continue. Wider global economic risks are therefore casting some air of caution over the sector as we enter 2019.”

Nigel Healy, Director Industrial, said: “If we continue to see the level of demand that we saw in 2018, we are forecasting rental growth in market in 2019. Prime rents have increased slightly to €9.75 per sq ft, and as the availability of existing stock remains tight, and pipeline schemes on site remains limited, further rental growth is inevitable. We are forecasting that rents will achieve up to €10 per sq ft for the best buildings in the best locations.”