Construction activity in the Dublin City Council area continued to increase across the residential, office and hotel sectors during 2018 as development sentiment remains strong, a new survey shows today.
Deloitte’s latest Dublin Crane Survey captures the development of new schemes and the significant amount of refurbishment, including office, residential, hotels and student accommodation last year.
The report finds that over 5.6 million square feet of offices are under development in the Dublin City Council area, up from 4 million in 2017.
A total of 4,119 residential units in the area were also built last year, up from 3,634 units in 2017
Deloitte said the number of hotel rooms jumped to 2,752 last year from 929 over the course of 2017, but the number of student accommodation beds fell to 4,069 beds in 2018 from 4,529 the previous year.
Michael Flynn, Head of Real Estate at Deloitte Ireland, said the strength of the Irish economy has been mirrored by yet another strong year for development activity in Dublin City.
“The development of new Grade A office space has been substantial and the completion of the current office pipeline schemes will largely address the pent up demand for space in the city centre,” he said.
But he added that supply deficits still remain for the residential, student accommodation and hotel sectors.
“Our research shows the underlying gaps in supply have continued to attract many of the world’s largest and most sophisticated investors, who have entered the market to either develop, or fund development projects, in all sectors of the real estate market.
“Ireland remains an attractive investment opportunity for would be investors, with the significant presence and investment by large global companies further cementing its credentials,” Mr Flynn added.
Today’s survey noted that the take up of office space in 2018 has been heavily weighted towards the tech sector, with over 50% of the office take up throughout the year relating to tech companies.
Deloitte also said that the impact of Brexit on demand for office space remains to be seen.
Today’s survey shows that a total of 20 hotels are under construction in the Dublin City Council area, an increase from just nine hotels in the previous crane survey.
These range from new builds to significant renovation and extension works on existing hotels.
Article Courtesy of RTÉ News, Wednesday, February 06, 2019.