Pharma giant Abbot moves into Cherrywood

The US pharmaceutical company Abbott and the management specialists Milner Browne are to rent

more than 3,716sq m (40,000sq ft) of office space at Cherrywood Business Park in south Dublin.

The two lettings are the first since the US property firm Hines and King Street Capital acquired the business park as well as 400 acres for more than €280 million.

Abbott is to occupy 2,787sq m (30,000sq ft) of the newly let space with Milner Browne taking the remainder in a different block.

The rent in both instances will be just short of €185 per sq m (€20 per sq ft).

They will join a number of local and international firms already based there including Dell, Rational FT Services, Friends First and Elavon Financial Services.

The vacancy rate in the park has now dropped to 19 per cent of the overall space.

Remaining suites available range in size from 202 to 4,417 sq m (2,174 to 47,554sq ft).

Brian Moran, senior managing director of Hines Ireland, said that since acquiring the park in 2014 they had invested in a capital expenditure programme to realise its potential and to cater for the needs of the occupants.

The master plan provides for the development of a retail-led mixed-use town centre, three parks spanning over 57 acres and up to 3,800 apartments and houses.

Mark Smyth of CBRE and Roland O'Connell of Savills, joint agents for the offices, said the lettings to Abbot and Milner Browne would be the first of a number of significant lettings and they expected that further office development would be needed to cater for the demand.