AIB in talks to sublet Eir HQ at Heuston South Quarter

Eir is in advanced negotiations to sublet a substantial part of its Dublin headquarters at Heuston South Quarter (HSQ) to AIB.

The early success of the letting campaign for the partially occupied Block 2 has also prompted Eir to seek replacement tenants for the adjoining eight-storey Block 1, which extends to 14,846sq m (159,910sq ft).

AIB has agreed a rent of €376 per sq m (€35/sq ft) for Block 2, which has a floor area of 5,202sq m (56,000sq ft). Car parking spaces will cost an additional €2,500 a year.

AIB’s decision to opt for the HSQ building follows its decision to offload the AIB Bank Centre in Ballsbridge and relocate its corporate head offices early next year to Molesworth Street. Part of the bank’s operation involving digital teams is also to be transferred to another new office development at Central Park in Leopardstown.

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Savills is advising Eir on its plans to vacate Block 2 at CHQ. Another Dublin estate agency, GVA Donal O Buachalla, has been engaged to handle the subletting of the entire space in Block 1, which is on the opposite side of the road to Heuston Railway Station.

Ian Campbell of GVA is quoting a rent of €484 per sq m (€45/sq ft) for the block, which can now be sublet in its entirety or a number of floors linked together. Typical floor plates are around 1,928sq m (20,753sq ft) between levels 1 and 5, with smaller floors of 359sq m (3,864sq ft) and 231sq m (2,486sq ft) on levels 7 and 8.

Central atrium

No 1 HSQ is a contemporary, fully-fitted headquarters building in excellent condition with 149 car parking spaces. The block has a central atrium running from the main entrance back through the length of the building and also with the benefits of a glazed panel facade.

The HSQ head office was acquired earlier this year in an off-market deal by the parent firm of mobile phone operator Three for a figure of around €176 million. The outgoing rent of €9.3 million is due to rise this month by way of a fixed uplift to €10.9 million.

The entire Eir complex was originally funded and developed by the former State company then trading as Eircom. It was sold at the end of 2006 – two years before the property crash – to Quinlan Private for a figure reported by The Irish Times to have been €190 million. The sale and leaseback arrangement formed part of a 25-year full repairing and insuring lease effective from July 2008.

Subsequent turmoil in the property market as a result of the banking crisis allowed Bank of Scotland Ireland (Lloyds) to offload the HSQ building. The investment was bought by Northwood for an undisclosed figure.

Eir’s lease of the block is due to run until 2033, giving the new owner a weighted average lease period of 15 years, with a rent review due this month.