Office Market: Plans by the Government to sell the notorious Hawkins House behind Burgh Quay in Dublin 2 have been dropped following a decision by the Department of Health and Children not to proceed with the relocation of its staff to a newly completed office block over Penneys store in Parnell Street.
The Office of Public Works had been planning to seek over €60 million for Hawkins House, one of Dublin's most rundown and ugliest office buildings.
Although the Department of Health had been offered exceptionally attractive rental terms on Chapel House in Parnell Street and had apparently secured the approval of the trade unions for the move, senior executives in the department and the OPW pulled out of the deal this week just before formal contracts were due to be signed.
The department had agreed a rent of €269 per sq m (€25 per sq ft) - almost half the going rate for third generation space in the city centre - even though it would have involved considerable expense (not less than €5.5 million) in fitting out the block of 10,219sq m (110,000sq ft).
The department had planned to lease the block for five years before moving to the current headquarters of the Department of Education on Marlborough Street. The education department is due to move to Mullingar within three years as part of the Government's decentralisation plan. Liam Carroll, who developed Chapel House and several other office developments in the Parnell Street area, had obviously been banking on the Department of Health staying longer than the five-year lease period.
Either way, the short term letting made good business sense for a building that has been vacant for the best part of two years and, even if the department moved out after a short stay, at least the building would be fitted out and more attractive to a replacement tenant. The indications yesterday were that the OPW may be forced to carry out some remedial work on Hawkins House - many of the windows are defective - now that health staff are to remain there until Marlborough Street becomes available.
In the meantime, the OPW has sought expressions of interest from developers for a public-private-partnership (PPP) scheme that will not only provide the headquarters for the Department of Education in Mullingar, but also facilities in Port Laoise for the Department of Agriculture and Food, and space in Carlow where the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is to be based.
