One of Dublin's leading commercial agents is calling on Dublin County Council to rezone more land for industrial use in the west of the city. Hamilton Osborne King (HOK) reports a "spectacular collapse in the availability of serviced industrial land in the general Naas Road region".
This area has traditionally been the centre of industrial development in Dublin with approximately 30 million sq ft. HOK reports that industrial development has rapidly overtaken the supply of zoned land to the extent that there is now practically no serviced "ready to go" land in the area.
Paul McNeive of HOK said that occupiers in the Naas Road area are being forced to consider locations such as Naas itself, Newbridge and the northside of Dublin.
A major beneficiary has been the Ballycoolin / Blanchardstown area which is now the second largest hub of industrial development in greater Dublin. HOK is currently acting for three major multinational companies located in the Naas Road area. Each of them requires 100,000 sq ft facilities to replace existing semi-obsolete accommodation. To date they have been unable to find suitable sites.
"If there were 100 acres of land zoned for industrial development in the south Dublin County Council area, it would be taken up within one year," says Paul McNeive. He adds that South Dublin County Council should consider such a zoning, ahead of making its next Development Plan, as "there is an ongoing haemorrhaging of traditional south Dublin companies to other areas".
The developers of the major industrially zoned land banks - the M50 Business Park, Ballymount, Citywest, Park West and Green Property/Dublin Corporation at Fonthill - are no longer offering sites for the development of larger warehousing buildings.
Supply is now restricted to small pockets at Magna Park (adjoining Citywest) where perhaps five more buildings can be accommodated, and one or two infill sites, such as an eight-acre site currently for sale on the Naas Road.
Remaining smaller sites totaling eight acres at Baldonnell Business Park are being reserved for showroom/office type use.
