A newly restored Victorian warehouse at Grand Canal Quay in Dublin’s south docklands is to be offered for rental to high-tech industries by billionaire businessman Denis O’Brien.
The top quality building, to be known as 3GCQ, is close to the O'Brien headquarters near Google at 1 Grand Canal Quay, which was recently enlarged by having a seventh floor added to the block. The warehouse and two campshire buildings at Sir John Rogerson's Quay were bought during the depths of the recession in 2012 when there were relatively few Irish buyers interested in acquiring rundown properties in the docklands.
Mr O’Brien has since spent more than €3 million on a full renovation and upgrading of the warehouse which has about 974sq m (10,484sq ft) of office space at ground-floor level together with 800sq m (8,611sq ft) of ancillary accommodation in the original restored lower ground floor.
New tenants will have the use of five car parking spaces at the front of the building. The two campshire buildings, one of them known as the former BJ Marine warehouse, are currently being refurbished and modernised at very considerable expense before being put on the letting market early in the new year.
In the meantime, commercial agents Murphy Mulhall is quoting a rent of €850,000 for 3GCQ, which is available on a new short-term lease and expected to appeal to high-tech, creative and digital sectors.
James Mulhall of Murphy Mulhall said the main demand for such warehouses was coming from the high-tech industries who monitored growth in terms of quarters rather than years.
“. . . We are looking at a strong rent because we are offering a rare commodity – a superb warehouse on a short lease, the only one of its kind on the market,” he said.