High-tech companies are leading the way in demand for office space in Dublin, writes JACK FAGAN
THE WEB search engine giant Yahoo is to rent a newly completed office block at East Point business park in the Dublin docklands.
This is one of four recently completed lettings in the park to high-tech companies which are continuing to expand despite the difficult trading environment.
Agents specialising in the Dublin office market report that there has been a significant pick up in inquiries for space in the city in recent weeks. Google, which occupies a large office block on Barrow Street, is currently looking for two separate blocks of 3,716sq m (40,000sq ft) each in the general docklands area.
Other companies looking for new office space include the Central Bank and NIB which want 4,645sq m (50,000sq ft) each; Pocket Kings, online poker, 3,716sq m (40,000sq ft); Standard Life, 2,322sq m (25,000sq ft); XL Insurance, 1,858sq m (20,000sq ft); Macquarie Bank of Sydney, up to 1,393sq m (15,000sq ft); Anglo Irish Bank 2,043sq m (22,000sq ft); ESB 3,716sq m (40,000sq ft); Whirlpool electrical appliances, about 1,486sq m (16,000sq ft); Glennon insurance agents, Bentley’s IT division and Capita outsourcing, 1,393sq m (15,000sq ft) each; Warner Chilcott pharmaceuticals 929sq m (10,000sq ft); Spencer Stuart, global executive search firm, 743 to 929sq m (8,000/10,000sq ft); Linkedin social networking service, about 650sq m (7,000sq ft).
The IDA is also reported to be looking for 2,322sq m (25,000sq ft) for an American company and several more office blocks for other overseas firms looking at Ireland. Jones Lang LaSalle will be on the look out for between 13,935 and 23,225sq m (150,000 and 250,000sq ft) if an unidentified firm choses to locate in Ireland rather than the UK. Similarly, Lisney is also handling an enquiry for between 4,645 and 13,935sq m (50,000 and 150,000sq ft).
Meanwhile, eBay, the online marketplace, has signed a new 15 year lease on a 6,967sq m (75,000sq ft) office block at Blanchardstown Town Centre. Green Property is understood to have reduced the €1.2 million rent roll in order to hold on to the American company.
Yahoo has agreed a rent of under €161 per sq m (€15 per sq ft) for 3,716sq m (40,000sq ft) in a new six-storey block, one of nine buildings in the second phase of East Point to be developed jointly by Earlsfort Developments and Dublin Port and Docks Board. The €7 million block is close to Dublin Port Tunnel. Deirdre Costello of Jones Lang LaSalle acted for East Point while Ronan Corbert of DTZ Sherry FitzGerald advised Yahoo which previously occupied an older block in the park.
Meanwhile, the software company Citrix has leased 2,229sq m (24,000sq ft) in East Point and is to take another 557sq m (6,000sq ft) by year end. The other new arrivals are PaceMetrick which is involved in the finance industry, and Ergo computing, each of which have moved into 1,114sq m (12,000sq ft).
Matt Gallagher of East Point said that after a very tough 18 months in the commercial letting market it was encouraging to see companies agreeing to large scale rental deals. Not only were they getting an increased number of inquiries for new space in the park, but existing occupiers seemed more confident about the future as evidenced by recent recruitment campaigns by companies such as Oracle, Conduit, Quintiles, Ergo, Citrix and Peninsula.
East Point’s success in attracting a large number of high-tech companies has been underlined by the choice of the park as the first location in Ireland to be connected to a large high capacity fibre-optic sub-sea data cable which will link up with the UK. When completed later this year, the service will increase the speed of transfer of data and form an important part of the country’s telecommunications infrastructure.
