Grafton Street’s appeal keeps retail rents surging on key Dublin destination

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Dec 2, 2016

Retail rents on key Dublin shopping thoroughfare Grafton Street will continue to outpace growth in wider retail rents in Ireland, property consultant Savills Ireland said.

Rents across the country are set to rise for the next two years but the pace of growth should slow. Rents have grown significantly in recent years and should rise again by around 7% up to the middle of 2018, although they will rise by nearly 10% on Grafton Street.

Savills figures show that Grafton Street rents rose 13.9% in the 12 months to September as it continued to be a major attraction for global brands. Big names due to open there soon include & Other Stories and Victoria’s Secret, which have chosen the street for their Irish debuts.

Grafton Street remains one of the most expensive streets in the world on which to rent stores.

The rent hikes are being driven by a more vibrant economy as unemployment falls. Savills director of research Dr John McCartney said: "Fundamentally, consumer confidence ebbs and flows. The real determinant of retail rents is jobs growth, which has continued to be really strong with 2.9% growth in the last 12 months, or 57,000 jobs."

But while the lack of available space will also be a factor in pushing up property prices, Savills said that “after three years of compounding rental growth, base effects are now beginning to dampen annual percentage increases.”