New figures releasd today show that the take-up of space in Dublin's industrial and logistics market in the first-half of 2022 totalled 1.3 million square feet.
Savills Ireland said that after a strong first quarter, 438,000 square feet of industrial and logistics space were transacted in the second quarter of 2022.
This was well below the five-year quarterly average of 714,000 square feet but Savills noted that this likely reflects the timing of deals, with the first quarter of this year 33% higher than the five-year average.
Today's figures show that an expansion by Dunnes Stores - who leased 78,400 square feet of space in Stadium Business Park in Dublin - was the largest deal of the quarter.
The second-largest deal of the year was a pre-let by third-party logistics (3PL) provider GLS from developer Henderson Park.
The third-largest deal was the forward sale of the 70,000 sq ft Contrail House unit in Dublin Airport Logistics Park for €17m to Yourway.
Savills noted an above-average number of larger than 50,000 square feet deals were signed in the latest three month period, but it added that take-up was held back by an absence of deals over 100,000 square feet.
It also reported a substantial decline in small deals between 5,000 and 10,000 square feet, with just one unit of this size signing in the quarter, the lowest level since the global financial crisis and reflective of the tight supply in this range
John Ring, Director of Research, said it is clear that Ireland's strong demographics and biopharma sector are continuing to drive demand.
"These deals highlight the synergies of a buoyant export market and expanding logistics sector. While the value of Ireland's medicinal and pharmaceutical products only increased by 1% in 2021, exports of these products are 26% higher than they were prior to the pandemic," he said.
"Indeed, while global growth is set to slow partly due to interruption in international trade in 2022, Irish exports are forecast to grow by 8.5% in 2022 and 6.2% according to the ESRI Summer forecasts," he added.
