Sandyford looks set to re- emerge as one of the prime locations for offices in the Dublin suburbs. The Irish-owned investment company Ardstone Capital has just sought approval for a master plan to develop €
120 million worth of offices in Dublin 18.
The planning application for 41,805sq m (450,000sq ft) of offices follows Ardstone's acquisition of the 5.06-acre site from the National Asset Management Agency for a mere €6.5 million. The site previously changed hands during the boom in October 2007, when it was sold for a figure "in the late €70s million" to property developer and businessman Reg Tuthill and Derek O'Leary, a business partner.
The five acres were owned for many years by the Ulster Bank – it had a data centre there – and was part of a €1.5 billion portfolio the bank parent, Royal Bank of Scotland, sold to Morgan Stanley Real Estate at the end of 2005.
The master-plan formula now being sought by Ardstone for what will be known as Eden Plaza provides for a range of high-specification office buildings ranging in size from 3,251 to 13,935sq m (35,000 to 150,000sq ft). They will have large, flexible floor plates with 18m spans and will be "columnless" – a first in Ireland but a layout that is widely used in the United States.
The project is to be landscaped to a particularly high standard and will include a "pocket park" at the centre of the site where it can be overlooked by all the buildings. The ultra-modern design by architects Henry J Lyons and input from development managers Urban Solutions and landscape architects Cameo Partners are expected to put Eden Plaza on a different footing to other office projects in Sandyford.
Deirdre Costello of JLL, who along with DTZ Sherry FitzGerald have been appointed letting agents for the development, said that in a market hampered by a severe shortage of good-quality office space, Eden Plaza would be in a position to offer exceptional headquarter buildings in a variety of sizes.
“We have seen a sharp increase in demand for office space in suburban Dublin and, with rental levels increasing in the city centre, Eden Plaza will be in a position to offer an affordable solution that is a mere 20-minute Luas journey from the city centre.”
Established in 2004, Ardstone Capital is a specialist property investment company with a portfolio of 13 high-quality assets across Europe.
