Docklands Development: McCann FitzGerald is close to selecting a buyer and developer for its new headquarters in Dublin's Grand Canal Docks area. Gretchen Friemann reports
Partners in the top corporate law firm McCann FitzGerald are expected to net anything from €28 to €35 million through a sale and leaseback deal on the site of its new headquarters in the Grand Canal Docks area.
The company is in the advanced stages of selecting a buyer and developer for the half-acre Riverside One site which McCann FitzGerald acquired for €12.5 million from the Dublin Docklands Development Authority.
Market experts believe the value of the completed development, which will extend to 10,219 sq m (110,000 sq ft), will be about €90 million. This is unlikely to include fit-out costs which could run to at least €10 million. Both sides can avoid punitive stamp duty charges on the completed building by agreeing a pre-sale of the site.
McCann FitzGerald's chairman, Mr Ronan Molony, confirmed to The Irish Times that the company is in the "advanced stages" of concluding both a pre-sale and a sale and leaseback deal but claimed a number of details were still being hammered out with a shortlist of potential buyers.
These are believed to include the Quinlan Partnership and Alanis, the McCormack-led company which has carried out a number of major developments in the IFSC.
Mr Molony declined to comment on the projected €28m-plus windfall the firm's 56 partners are expected to share in the deal, pointing out that negotiations were "at a delicate stage" and that the signing of "detailed contracts was a number of weeks away".
When the negotiations are concluded, McCann FitzGerald's partners could stand to make between €500,000 and €625,000 each. However, the final figure will depend on whether the completed building includes fit-out costs.
The McCann FitzGerald chairman said the company had approached this deal with "great care". He said: "The partners are personally responsible for the debt of this company, so everybody's house is on the line, but we feel we have made the right decision."
The law firm's strategy of pre-selling and then constructing and leasing back the completed building is considered "an astute move" by market experts who believe McCann FitzGerald acquired the site at the junction of Sir John Rogerson's Quay and Cardiff Lane for a "very competitive price".
