The State paid Trinity College €560,000 for Pearse Street Garda Station last month. The State exercised its legal right to buy out the ground rent on the site which it had been leasing from the College on a ninety-nine year lease since 1911. 

The College received an annual rent from the State of IR£390 which converts into €495. Owners of leasehold property can purchase their ground rent and enlarge their interest into a freehold. A leasehold interest is for a fixed term of years and subject to a rent whereas freehold has the capacity to last forever.

The Office of Public Works (OPW) is in charge of managing the State’s property portfolio and it took the decision to buy out the ground rent on the Pearse St building.