IT IS a sign of the attention to detail that has gone into the East Point Business Park in Dublin's docklands that even the manhole covers are embossed with the park's logo.

Mature trees, some of them 35 years old, have been planted, a landscape architect has been brought in to provide the perfect environment for a modern business development and a specially constructed bridge over the estuary has created a dramatic entrance for visitors.

Touches like this do not come cheap and the developers, Earlsfort Developments (East Point) Ltd, have spent about £7 million on the park's infrastructure, including the bridge and the landscaping.

"The bridge gave us a better quality entrance, better prestige and it got us in off the Alfie Byrne Road," says Dermot Pierce, managing director of East Point. "The key issue here in terms of the environment is the landscaping, the water, the whole staging and concept of it.

The East Point concept is both dramatic and ambitious: a high-profile, 700,000-square-foot development, based on European and US models, built on reclaimed land surrounded on two sides by the sea, yet within easy reach of the International Financial Services Centre, the city centre and Dublin Airport.

"We're giving them a superb environment, quality buildings a mile from the city centre, on the DART line and at the same time it's very convenient to the airport," says Mr Pierce. "Within a year, East Point will have its own facilities on site (including a gym, shops and bank machines). It's a self-contained quality environment and it's on the sea, which is always an added boost."

East Point's appeal has not been overestimated by the developers, with the designation of East Point as an enterprise area, a significant factor in its success. Tenants receive a double rent allowance while owner-occupiers can avail of rates remission and 100 per cent capital allowances on construction costs.

Construction of the "built to order" units is past the halfway stage, with 400,000 square feet due to be completed by May and at least a further 100,000 square feet to be added by the end of the year.

It is also expected that the park will be fully let by the end of 1997, with the total value of the buildings estimated at £70 million. The park has a mix of small, medium and large tenants, with premises ranging from 5,000 to more than 50,000 square feet.

"The thing that is happening in East Point, which is most encouraging, is that institutions and pension funds are investing in East Point." These investments, supplemented by interest from private consortiums, have come despite the fact that the pension funds involved cannot take advantage of designated area tax breaks. "To me, it's a tremendous, vote of confidence," says Mr Pierce. He describes the commercial yield on the property as very favourable" at seven per cent plus.

Already, a number of high-profile clients have taken up occupancy: Oracle's Direct Marketing Division is firmly ensconced in one building, a second building is currently under construction for Oracle's translation group and the firm has an option on a third.

"We're targeting all industries in the info-tech area," says Mr Pierce. "This is located in an enterprise area and that area confers specific rights on people who manufacture."

ACT Kindle was the first tenant to move into the park, moving from separate premises in the Earlsfort Centre and Blessington Street and paying £10 per square foot for its new 64,000-square-foot location at East Point. Kindle was quickly joined by AOL Bertlesmann from its temporary base in Tallaght. German data processing company SAP is also a tenant, as are the Irish computer company Celtech and Sun Microsystems. Rents are now running at £12 per square foot.

Most recently, US research company Quintiles announced it was moving from the Earlsfort Centre to East Point. While expansion is one factor - Quintiles will have 50,000 square feet at East Point compared with 20,000 in its current location - East Point also offers high quality accommodation at lower rents. Quintiles is paying £16 per square foot for its current property at East Point, it will pay 25 per cent less.

"International companies assess the risk of taking a rented building, how saleable is it?" says Mr Pierce. "To have a building on an isolated site 10 or 20 miles from the city centre is a greater risk. You are looking here at the future of how industrial development will be."

Oracle was attracted to Ireland by the telecommunications system, the employment legislation and the grants and support available, but East Point's location was one of the deciding factors. As Peter Scott, director of Orade's direct marketing division puts it: "In the UK and Scotland, the packages are the same but you'd be in a coalfield in Newcastle.

Ciaran Nagle, head of Kindle Banking Systems, takes a similar view: "It's the nearest thing to a city-centre location on a greenfield site."

Eventually, there will be two entrances to the park: one for employees and guests via the specially constructed bridge and a second entrance leading on to a service road which will circulate commercial traffic around the park's perimeter, with access to all buildings from this road. The proposed Dublin Port Access Tunnel, which will link the docklands area with the airport road at Whitehall, will give commercial traffic easy access to Dublin Airport.

The park will also be served by its own DART station, with a private road connecting the park to the station via Alfie Byrne Road. A contribution of about £150,000 has been made to its construction by the developers and the station is expected to be open before the summer. A shuttle bus service will take employees from the park to the station

The construction of the park in the docklands area is also set to bring a much-needed boost to the area. When completed, East Point will have 5,000 employees, generating an estimated £100 million annually into the city's economy in salaries alone.

Pierce believes the park will have a "dramatic impact" on the area. "The one thing that is clear to us is that representatives in the area and the local community are very supportive. They wanted something here." East Point has already made contributions to local sporting and social groups and the names of the companies in the park have been distributed locally for employment purposes. At least one employer has visited local schools, offering the possibility of employment to those who take relevant FAS courses.

"This has not been operating for a year yet," says Mr Pierce. "We are here 10 months. There won't be an immediate impact, but East Point will have an impact."