A home from home in the Google ghetto

The arrival of Twitter in Dublin’s south docklands will mean another influx of young Euro-techies looking for a place to live

DUBLIN LETTING agents must be rubbing their hands in glee at the news that Twitter is to locate in Dublin. The prospect of yet another influx of young Euro-techies looking for a place to live comes as a glimmer of good news for the economy, but what will prospective Twitter workers make of the Irish rental market?

Danish Google worker Rasmus Greve initially looked at apartments in what he calls “the Google ghetto” – aka Dublin’s south docklands – when he moved here from Copenhagen. His mission was to find somewhere close to work that was comparable to his smart, minimalist apartment back home. Carpet was a big no-no, and as for gas heaters designed to look like real fires, “I don’t understand them,” he says. “Being Scandinavian, interior is important, but our minimalist tastes sometimes clash with Irish ideas.”

Greve is one of thousands of foreign nationals working in the city centre, the docklands and Dublin 4, in the thriving technology sector where companies such as Facebook and Google are expanding their workforces and other international names, such as LinkedIn, Zynga and Gilt Groupe, have now located.

But despite the proliferation of apartments in these areas, finding an affordable place to live close to work isn’t easy. “I wanted to be close to work and looked at the area around Google, but the rents were pretty high. What I found is that while many two-bed apartments are in the same price range, the quality of how they are furnished is diverse, and I wanted something newly built or renovated.”

His initial plan was to rent a two-bed on his own in Grand Canal Dock, his preferred area, but the rents of €1,400-€1,600 were “out of the question”.

He eventually found a two-bed in Castleforbes Square in the north docklands, near the O2, for €1,100 a month and chose it because he would be the first to live there.

Letting agent Owen Reilly estimates that about half the tenants currently finding accommodation in the docklands through his agency are from Google and Facebook. “It’s getting harder for new people to find an apartment in the area, because around 65 per cent of tenants are now staying longer than a year, and when an apartment is up for renewal Google can find new tenants through the company.”

Not all Google and Facebook staff choose to live in the docklands. Some live in Ringsend, where the rent is cheaper, or Sandymount, because it’s more settled and mature. Reilly knows techie staff who live as far out as Ranelagh or Rathmines or have opted for Christchurch, where the accommodation is cheaper but they can still walk to work.

He says in general, though, most prefer to be on the doorstep of the workplace. “Even if it means paying more and being in the same block as the office they work in – they have no issue with this, whereas Irish people might.”

Reilly says foreign nationals often express surprise at the cost of renting an apartment in Dublin, especially the clean, modern apartments they prefer. “Apartments that owner- occupiers have just left are popular, because they usually have more expensive furnishings, plants and even widescreen TVs.”

Because many European workers come from countries with more mature rental markets, they often have very specific criteria, “even asking for precise dimensions of the living room and bedroom before they will go and see a place”, says Reilly. Some insist on at least 10sq m (108sq ft) of storage and aren’t keen on electric heating, “and they don’t like carpets anywhere”.

Rents in Grand Canal Dock are typically €1,500 a month for a two-bed, while apartments in nearby Charlotte Quay, which is now 12 years old and where units tend to be smaller, are about €1,200 a month. On the northside, in the IFSC, units are about €1,000-€1,100 a month. Most pricey are apartments in the Alto Vetro complex in Grand Canal Dock, which cost up to €1,900 a month for a two-bed.

“Demand for one-beds is incredible, because the rents are lower and there are not as many of them. When one comes on we get so many enquiries we have to limit it to about a dozen for viewings and we instantly get three or four offers. Two-beds take up to two weeks.”

It’s not clear yet where Twitter will locate, but according to Thomas McEvoy of the IDA, the challenge will be to find somewhere that’s attractive to migrating workers and also to indigenous workers. “Dublin has become a trendy city, and as well as the big companies there are a lot of smaller, cutting-edge companies locating here, such as online games developers PopCap, Gala and Jolt.”

The apartment Rasmus Greve found at Castleforbes Quay is shiny and modern, but he says the area can be “very desolate, practically dead, apart from the O2 and the Gibson Hotel. The weekend market at the 02 didn’t happen this summer, and the Ferris wheel doesn’t seem to be attracting crowds.” He says he felt lonely living on his own and now shares his apartment with a friend.

On the bright side, he has a great view from his apartment across the Liffey, “where they were supposed to build apartments but didn’t” and a great caretaker. While he’s happy enough there for the moment, he might consider moving eventually “to somewhere more bohemian and inspiring, maybe the centre of the city. A lot of the Danish people in the area live in and around Spencer Dock, but in the last year the demographic has changed, and some are moving southward to Portobello or off Camden Street in the city centre, more bohemian areas, but not Temple Bar with its craziness.”

Tristan Toulemond, from Rennes in Brittany, another Google worker, arrived in Dublin last month and found the Irish property market “bewildering”. He went to see about 10 apartments and found “big discrepancies from one to another” in terms of the standard of accommodation. “I visited some very expensive apartments that were pretty old and dilapidated, especially in Dublin 1. On the other hand, I visited very modern apartments that were much cheaper. I was first looking for a modern, well-furnished, one-bedroom apartment, less than 15 minutes’ walk from work, but quickly noticed there were none for less that €950. My price range was about €600-€800 a month. So in the end, I thought that Grand Canal Square was the best place to live. It met all my requirements. So I decided to share a flat with a friend of mine. And I definitely think that sharing a flat with one or two persons is the best solution here in Dublin.”

Toulemond is one of the few who don’t think Dublin is expensive to rent in. He has lived in Paris, “where rents can be much more expensive for identical flats. It’s very hard to find a nice place to live in Paris.”

David Cooling, originally from Donaghmede in Dublin, who works for games company Zynga, based on Shelbourne Road in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, recently returned from Berlin and was “shocked” to find the difference in rent. “Myself and my girlfriend moved over to Berlin four years ago, directly after graduating from DCU. We had no problem finding a furnished apartment over there, and were sorted within a few weeks. Bills, internet and the landline were included and we had a two-bed flat for just under €500 a month.”

They’ve been searching for a place and have just found a three-bed maisonette in Bayside, Sutton, for €975 a month.

“We wanted to be on the Dart line to get to work easily, but we noticed that the Irish rental market seems very tight at the moment. The same properties keep cropping up, In Berlin, there was definitely more choice and variety.”