AVIVA HAS begun offloading office space at its headquarters, One Park Place off Dublin’s Harcourt Street, following its decision to reduce staff numbers by up to 720.
The insurer originally rented a vast 18,580sq m (200,000sq ft) in the Clancourt development almost six years ago after selling its dated buildings on Haddington Road at the top end of the property market.
With the redundancy programme now beginning to kick in, Aviva will be increasingly looking at ways of assigning much of the expensive accommodation to other companies.
Last week it managed to sublet its first tranche of space (2,136sq m/23,000 sq ft) to State-controlled Permanent TSB which is expanding its collections team to deal with mortgage arrears.
Aviva’s letting agent, HT Meagher O’Reilly, is now to begin marketing a further 2,322 to 2,787sq m (25,000/30,000sq ft) in the same two blocks, A and C.
Aviva originally paid a rent of around €473 per sq m (€44 per sq ft) for the penthouse space in Blocks A and C but, with rents now significantly less because of the ongoing banking crisis and the depressed economy, the company will have to meet the shortfall between the original rent and today’s going rate of around €322 per sq m (€30 per sq ft).
The earliest break options in the Aviva leases are unlikely to arise for another four to six years.
Jones Lang LaSalle advised Permanent TSB which has its headquarters on nearby St Stephen’s Green.
