Prime headline office rents in Dublin have increased to €67.50 per sq ft, up from €65.00 per sq ft in Q1 2026. The move takes rents above the previous nominal high of €65 per sq ft, first set in Q4 2017, according to CBRE Ireland Research.
CBRE Ireland Research’s prime rent series measures a standard transaction of approximately 10,000 sq ft in a well-specified Grade A building in a prime city centre location. The revision reflects a growing volume of transactions at that level and above which collectively provide direct evidence of a market moving to new pricing territory.
The deal evidence underpinning the rent revision spans a number of Dublin’s modern prime office buildings. Transactions at Malt House, Four and Five Park Place and Glencar House have provided the deal evidence to move the prime guideline rent to €67.50 per sq ft, the highest level recorded in CBRE Ireland’s prime rent series, which extends back to 1987.
A Nominal Record – With Significant Headroom
While €67.50 per sq ft represents a new nominal all-time high, the figure takes on a different character when adjusted for inflation. In real terms, Dublin prime office rents remain materially below the peaks of previous cycles. The nominal highs of the mid-2000s, adjusted for Irish consumer price inflation over the intervening two decades, would be worth considerably more in today’s money. On that basis, the current rental recovery retains significant headroom before reaching historically elevated levels in real terms — further underpinning the case that rental growth has further to run.
Bifurcation Evident; Supply Tightening Points to Further Rental Growth
Bifurcation remains a key theme in office markets around Europe, with prime buildings seeing strong demand and significant rental growth, however, there is a growing divergence in both values and occupier demand between older non-prime stock and modern, highly sustainable prime buildings.”
CBRE Research is forecasting that prime rents will reach €70 per sq ft before the end of 2026, with €75 per sq ft increasingly emerging as a credible medium-term outcome. Available space is shrinking in the core city centre. Dublin 2 has historically seen over 1 million sq ft of office take-up per year, yet the total volume of high-specification space now available across the submarket is materially less than that figure. Furthermore, the available space is fragmented across a large number of buildings and consists predominantly of smaller floorplates.
With reserved stock in the wider Dublin market standing at over 1.1 million sq ft and three deals each exceeding 80,000 sq ft expected to convert in H2, the supply picture firmly supports further rental growth. The completion and letting of 77,500 sq ft at 2 Grand Canal Quay, is indicative of the demand that exists for brand new, energy-efficient city centre stock.
Robert Mulcair, Director of Office Leasing at CBRE Ireland, commented: “The market has been building toward this for a while. We have had a consistent run of deals closing at rents above where we had prime quoted. Occupiers chasing the best space in the best locations are paying more than they were 12 months ago, and landlords who have invested properly in their buildings are achieving it. The evidence is there across a number of buildings. For developers looking to secure pre-lets against current build costs, the rents required to justify new office development are above today’s headline prime rent, which suggests there remains further upward pressure on rents”.
AI Emerging as a Demand Driver
Artificial intelligence is emerging as a meaningful demand driver in Dublin’s office market, with AI-focused occupiers increasingly visible in both active requirements and completed deals.
CBRE’s UK research team has identified the potential for up to 4 million sq ft of AI-led office take-up in London by 2033. While Dublin remains at an earlier stage of development, CBRE Ireland Research expects artificial intelligence to become an increasingly important driver of office demand in the years ahead.
Intel’s post-quarter announcement of a €5bn investment to upgrade and expand its Leixlip semiconductor plant reinforces Dublin’s positioning as a hub for the physical infrastructure that AI relies on. CBRE Ireland Research expects the convergence of AI demand and high-specification office requirements to become a more significant factor in the Dublin market over the coming years.