High-profile financial adviser pays €5.2m for south Dublin office

Just over 14 months after signing up as tenants for the second floor of Maple House in Stillorgan, the well-known personal financial adviser Paul Merriman and his company Pax Asset Management (trading as Ask Paul and Pax Financial) have acquired the building in its entirety for €5.2 million. The sale of the south Dublin property was brokered by Fearghal Lynam of BNP Paribas Real Estate on behalf of the vendor, a private company which has held the investment since it was developed in the 1990s.

Located at a prominent corner position directly opposite the Stillorgan Village shopping centre, Maple House comprises a modern three-storey mixed-use building of 1,111.4sq m (11,963sq ft) with 19 car parking spaces to the front and rear. The building is fully let and producing €335,788 in rental income annually across three tenancies, namely KBC Bank, Pax Asset Management and Durkan Homes, along with supplemental telecom-mast income. All three tenancies are held under long, full repairing and insuring (FRI) leases with a weighted average unexpired lease term (WAULT) of 5.3 years. The sale price of €5.2 million reflects a net initial yield of about 6 per cent after allowing for standard purchaser’s costs of 9.96 per cent.

Stillorgan Village is undergoing a significant transformation with works well advanced by Kennedy Wilson on the old Leisureplex site for a mixed-use scheme including 232 residential units with a substantial retail and food and beverage offering, while Cairn Homes has a live planning permission on the opposite Blakes Corner site for 377 residential units.

Commenting on the sale of Maple House, Fearghal Lynam of BNP Paribas Real Estate said: “There was good interest in this property, which was consistent with a trend we are seeing where well-let properties with strong covenants in good suburban locations are being sought after by private investors. These investors, mostly Irish, are seeking higher returns and are prepared to manage voids as leases expire.”