Commercial Property

Distress signals from the office market

The seizure of the €100m Beckett Building in Dublin’s East Wall by receivers is seen by many as ‘the canary in the coalmine’ for the commercial property sector

A recent report by BNP Paribas shows uptake of office space by tech companies has plunged 90 per cent from its pre-pandemic peak. Picture: Getty

In May 2018, the Comer Group sold the Beckett Building in Dublin’s East Wall for more than €100 million in one of the standout deals of the Irish commercial property market that year.

This was a classic play by the group, which is owned by Galway brothers Luke and Brian Comer. Having snapped it up for just €5 million back in 2013, they booked a massive profit on the 190,000 square foot property when they ...