Dublin office take-up dropped in Q1 2015 with 339,901 sq ft taken up, down from the record-breaking 1m sq ft taken up in Q4 2014, according to new research from JLL.
Some 45 deals completed during the quarter, down from the quarterly average of 48 for last year.
Deals in Q1 were smaller in size, with 76% of deals for less than 10,000 sq ft and no deals for space larger than 30,000 sq ft.
The average deal size fell from 16,900 sq ft in Q4 2014 to 7,553 sq ft over the quarter. The fall was the result of a lack of vacant space in the capital owing to the lack of development during the crash.
The suburbs outperformed the city centre, accounting for 56% of take-up. Six of the top 10 largest deals were in the suburbs.
The TMT sector accounted for 49% of all deals.
Occupiers relocating and expanding accounted for 40% of take-up, followed by 31% that were expanding and 29% that were relocating.
Fionnuala O’Buachalla, JLL’s director of tenant representation, said: “Although Q1 take-up seems low compared with the record high of Q4 last year, it is not surprising, as Q1 is generally always the lowest quarter. What is interesting is that the level of stock reserved for Q2 is already in excess of 385,000 sq ft, suggesting that it could exceed 500,000 sq ft by the time existing and new deals sign.”
