Digital Hub, the development agency in Dublin’s Liberties area that the government scheduled for closure in 2021 with its properties to be redeveloped for housing, will remain open until at least the end of 2027 amid an uptick in leasing activity, its chief executive has said.
The centre, which offers flexible office arrangements for budding technology and digital companies at its campus off Thomas Street in Dublin 8, is nearing full capacity this year after adding 11 new companies in 2024.
The Digital Hub currently hosts some 58 companies, which are now leasing more than 4,341sq m (46,735sq ft) of office space from the agency, 91 per cent of the total available space on site.
[ Disappointment and regret as Digital Hub in Dublin’s Liberties to be dissolvedOpens in new window ]
One other company has joined since January, the agency said in a statement, and more are expected to move into the hub in the second quarter of the year.
Fiach Mac Conghail, chief executive of the Digital Hub Development Agency (DHDA) said the Department of Communications had confirmed the campus would remain open until at least the end of 2027.
“I am pleased to say the Digital Hub is thriving and even more so given it has now been confirmed that we will remain in operation until at least the end of 2027, he said.
[ Digital Hub signs 29 new leases despite looming closure dateOpens in new window ]
“We play an important role in fostering creative digital and creative enterprises and in supporting the local Dublin 8 community, especially through the delivery of a wide range of initiatives and education programmes as well as cultural events and activities.”
It comes after the Government announced plans to gradually wind down the DHDA in 2021 on foot of recommendations contained in a Grant Thornton-led review of the organisation. After expressing its disappointment with the decision, the Digital Hub subsequently reached an agreement with the department to allow it to continue offering leases until 2025.
The wind-down would also facilitate the transfer of the DHDA’s property assets, comprising some 3.7 hectares across two sites on either side of Thomas Street, to the Land Development Agency (LDA) to be repurposed as social housing.
In 2023, the LDA unveiled Pear Tree Crossing, a €180 million master plan to build more than 500 homes on the site. However, questions remain about how many of the buildings, some of which are protected structures, can be redeveloped and how long the wind-down would take.
The LDA submitted a planning application for “enabling works” related to the project on a small portion of the lands last December, which Dublin City Council sent back to the State body for additional information.
Mr Mac Conghail, a member of The Irish Times Trust, said the Digital Hub continues to work closely with the LDA on the transfer of the lands and is also liaising with Dublin City Council on the regeneration of parts of Dublin 8.
