The difficulties facing the technology sector have forced Baltimore Technologies to offload two new office buildings it was due to occupy along the Dublin city quays at Parkgate Street.
Insignia Richard Ellis Gunne is to sell the leases of the two blocks which are due to be completed in July.
The slowdown in the IT industry is also expected to lead to a fall-off in demand for new space, particularly in the Dublin suburbs. Baltimore's cutbacks come only weeks after Internet holding bank Enba dropped plans to rent an office block of 177,000 sq ft in Sandyford, and Intel cancelled a major extension of its plant in Leixlip.
Baltimore, one of last year's stars of the NASDAQ and London Stock Exchange, is now one of the victims of the technology sector purge. The company, which has its 20,000 sq ft headquarters at Parkgate Business Centre, Dublin 8, is to reassign the individual leases of the two new blocks, one of 22,575 sq ft and the other of 14,710 sq ft.
Both are being built to third generation standards, including air-conditioning and fit-out. There will be 30 car-parking spaces on site with an annual rent of £1,500 (€1,900) each.
Willie Dowling of the agents says that the rent agreed for the two blocks - £21.25 (€27) per sq ft - makes it very competitive in a marketplace where similar buildings are now achieving £30 (€38) per sq ft.
Under the terms of the leases, there will be a rent-free period for three months in the second quarter of the lease. The tenant will also have the option of breaking the 25-year lease in the 15th year.
Parkgate Business Centre was designed by Anthony Reddy and Associates and is being developed by South Dublin Construction. The site includes apartments which have sold exceptionally well.
