There are a number of significant requirements for space in the Dublin office market but value for money is the order of the day, writes JACK FAGAN
THE DECISION by international business information supplier D&B, formerly known as Dun & Bradstreet, to set up a business operations centre at Sandyford Business Park comes at a time when there are signs of a pick-up in letting activity in the Dublin office market.
National Irish Bank is looking for 5,574sq m (60,000sq ft) in a city centre location to replace its present headquarters at Airtown Road in Tallaght. Separately, the bank plans to close 24 of its 54 bank branches around the country.
Meanwhile, Bord Gáis is close to making a decision on where it should rent around the same size of building for up to 400 staff in its energy division. The company is currently developing a separate office block for its network division in Finglas.
Two overseas IT companies are also actively looking for offices in Dublin and, according to one of the main letting agents, a considerable number of unnamed companies have instructed agents to find suitable office space in the city centre.
Meanwhile there was intense competition between office developers to land the DB contract which gives the company the option of taking additional space at a future date as the business develops.
D&B settled for The Chase in Sandyford after being offered two floors of the new building at a highly competitive rate of around €172 per sq m (€16 per sq ft). The company will also have the use of 80 car-parking spaces at around €1,300 each per annum. It will initially occupy 4,438sq m (47,782sq ft) on the fourth and fifth floors, and will have an option on the sixth floor which has another 1,393sq m (15,000sq ft). The 20-year lease provides for break clauses in years eight and 12.
The D&B letting means that more than 50 per cent of The Chase has now been let in the past six months.
Service Source, which specialises in developing a customer base for clients, occupies 3,530sq m (38,000sq ft) in the €75 million building which was funded by businessmen Reg Tuthill and Derek O’Leary along with AIB Private Banking.
The letting agent is Deirdre Hayes of HT Meagher O’Reilly. CBRE advised D&B.
