The second phase of Derry's Ulster Science and Technology Park is almost fully let, with only 5,000 sq ft remaining in the 50,000 sq ft building. Stream International, which already occupies 35,500 sq ft in the first part of the complex, has leased a further 22,000 sq ft in the latest building. Raytheon, a division of the US defence technology contractor, has taken 13,500 sq ft.
Peninsula Court, on the Buncrana Road, on the outskirts of Derry, is the second building in this business park with construction work already started on a third. Targeting call centres and technology companies, rental levels of £12 stg a sq ft are being quoted by estate agents Colliers JacksonStops. This compares with £14 in Belfast and £18 to £20 per sq ft at Sandyford in Dublin. Each building provides the flexible office environments required by hi-tech or call centre occupiers.
The Ulster Science and Technology Park is being developed in association with Northern Ireland's Industrial Development Board (IDB) and Peninsula Hi-Tech Ltd. The 50,000 sq ft second building has three storeys with disabled access to all floors and 170 dedicated car spaces on site. The third and fourth phases will be broadly similar.
Stream International, providers of online technical support, and sole occupants of the first building, are understood to be paying somewhat less than £12 stg a sq ft. Stream says that its Northern Ireland facility is the most profitable of all their 14 technical support centres around the world.
Multinationals Seagate and GEM have located close to the Science and Technology Park, in the same area as the University of Ulster, Magee College and the North West Institute of Further Higher Education.
Derry also benefits from its border location and the city lays claim to the largest concentration of US investment in Northern Ireland, with Seagate, DuPont and Perfecseal.
While many areas are experiencing skills shortages, the University of Ulster produces some 300 software engineers graduates annually, a supply of skilled labour augmented by the nearby Letterkenny Institute of Technology.
