Union Investment Buys Dublin Office for $213M

The German firm’s recent purchase represents their third office property in the city and fifth commercial property that combines for a portfolio value of $695 million.

5 Hanover Quay. Image courtesy of TIO South Docks Fund Ltd.

Union Investment spent €190 million, or $213 million, to purchase its third office property in Dublin. The seven-story building, located at 5 Hanover Quay, was built in 2018 and comprises some 161,460 square feet of rental space. The seller was TIO South Docks Fund Ltd., while A&L Goodbody advised the buyer in the transaction.


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The LEED-gold certified asset features a sedum green roof and double-glazed windows with insulated panels and is also fully leased to two tech companies. The lower four floors are occupied by the business digitization company DocuSign International and the top three floors are leased to Aptiv Global Operations, an automotive electronics supplier.

Martin Schellein, head of European investment management at Union Investment, attributed their latest purchase to the two well-established tenants, the high quality of the building and the strong and dynamic office market of the South Docklands neighborhood in Dublin. Union Investment closed the acquisition on behalf of open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Europa.

Union’s growing portfolio

While the Hanover Quay purchase is Union Investment’s third Dublin office, their portfolio is much more expansive than that. In 2015, the company bought a pair of office buildings at 4 and 5 Grand Canal Square, home to Facebook’s European headquarters and just three blocks down from 5 Hanover Quay.

In total, Union Investment owns five commercial properties in Dublin. Not counting the aforementioned office properties, they also purchased the mixed-use building dubbed Ballast House in June 2019 for €27 million, or $30 million, and the Vertium office building on Burlington Road in 2015.

The company’s Dublin presence is worth €620 million—$695 million—after the 5 Hanover Quay purchase. Union Investment also has properties in the U.S. where it paid $149 million for a Portland hotel in March 2018, marking its sixth hotel purchase in the country.