A new business park with a projected end value of £400 million (€508m) is to be opened beside Dublin Airport. Development work on the 150acre complex has just begun and if the market remains buoyant, the joint venture partners Dunloe Ewart and Aer Rianta expect to provide over three million sq ft of business space within a five-year time-frame.
It will be Aer Rianta's first venture of this kind in Dublin, though they have been involved in the successful development of commercial space at Cork Airport Business Park.
The Horizon Logistics Park will have a clear edge over a number of other similar developments in north Dublin because of its strategic location on the Ballymun side of the airport.
Three major freight companies have already made commitments to take three of the first five buildings under construction. Expediters Sea Sky, Kuehne & Nagle and Kintetsu World Express will occupy 140,000 of the 220,000 sq ft of warehousing in the initial phase.
Rents will vary from £8.50 to £9 (€10.79-€11.43) per sq ft, depending on the volume of space taken.
Later phases of the park will have high tech office accommodation and business space, each with their own identity in a heavily landscaped environment.
One of the great advantages of the park is that it will overlook the main runway along its full length, offering occupiers a high profile close to the passenger and cargo terminals. The park will also be within five minutes' drive of the M50 junction at Ballymun and little more than 10 minutes from Swords. Another selling point is that it will be close to the entrance of the Dublin Port Tunnel.
The Fingal Development Plan shows that the proposed routes for the heavy and light rail links to the airport will pass through the site. A separate company will manage the park which will have round the clock security.
To facilitate international companies moving in, a broadbank telecommunications system will be installed with service options for 10 different providers.
The park will be in direct competition with one to be developed by Green Property Company as part of the £1 billion (€1.27bn) rejuvenation programme for Ballymun.
Letting agents will be Jones Lang LaSalle and Insignia Richard Ellis Gunne.
