Denis O’Brien gets top rent for south docks warehouse

Zalando, Europe's biggest dedicated online fashion retailer, is to pay a record rent for a newly restored Victorian warehouse owned by businessman Denis O'Brien at Grand Canal Quay in Dublin's south docklands.

The German fashion company is to pay a rent of €850,000 for the newly named 3GCQ which is close to the O’Brien headquarters.

As well as the warehouse, O’Brien also bought two campshire buildings at Sir John Rogerson’s Quay during the depths of the recession in 2012 when there were relatively few Irish buyers interested in acquiring rundown properties in the docklands.

O’Brien spent more than €3 million on a full renovation and upgrading of the 3GCQ 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. There are five car-parking spaces at the front of the building.

The building has been let on a short lease which will run for only five years – a condition set by the landlord.

Dublin launch

Zalando launched a Dublin operation 12 months ago with the intention of recruiting top quality candidates in the field of research and development, big data analysis, data science and engineering.

The original intention was to create up to 200 jobs in Dublin over the next three years. Zalando was launched in Berlin in 2008 and serves customers in 15 European markets with more than 1,500 brands including big names Gap, Banana Republic and Top Shop.