There will be no shortage of suitors to fulfil Anglo Irish Bank's requirement for a large corporate headquarters building, writes Jack Fagan
The rapid expansion experienced by the banking sector in recent years is forcing another bank to look for new headquarters.
Anglo Irish Bank is about to appoint an estate agent to find a single building to accommodate its 700 Irish staff who at present work in five different locations in the city.
The present headquarters is located in part of Stephen's Court on St Stephen's Green in Dublin 2.
Bank of Ireland will also be looking for a new headquarters of 41,805sq m (450,000sq ft) in the new year because of inadequate space in its main building at Baggot Street.
Anglo Irish will looking for anything up to 15,793 sq m (170,000sq ft) either in the south inner city or further out in Sandyford where rents are about half those in the city. A spokesman for the bank would only admit that they are "reviewing all options to see how we might go forward".
Anglo presently occupies up to 6,503sq m (70,000sq ft) on the Green but also has ancillary offices at Heritage House, Hambleden House, Fitzwilliam Square, Dawson Street and the IFSC. The new managing director, David Drumm, is apparently anxious to bring all the headquarters staff under one roof.
The lease of the present accommodation in Stephen's Court does not run out until 2013 but this space could easily be assigned because of the prime location. The building is owned by Irish Life and rented at about €376 per sq m (€35 per sq ft).
The bank's initial choice is likely to be between Ballsbridge and the south docks area. A consortium led by the Kelly, McCormack and Flynn families is to develop an office block on Burlington Road of the precise size being sought by Anglo while the RDS has also been granted planning permission for a major office scheme on Simmonscourt Road that, for the moment, will only be built once it has been pre-let.
Further out, Elm Park off the Merrion Road in Dublin 4 will also have suitable accommodation overlooking a golf club familiar to many of Anglo's top executives.
If the bank chooses to follow several top legal firms into the south docklands, it will also have several choices, including Sean Kelly's planned redevelopment of Bolands Mill, Bernard McNamara's Market Gate office scheme and Liam Carroll's development on Sir John Rogerson's Quay. If the bank decides to go north of the Liffey, then the obvious location would be Spencer Dock.
However, choosing which site to go for will be an extremely difficult task for the bank because it already has made commitments to fund several of the developments in contention.
Anglo's growth and success in recent years has been closely linked to the buoyant property industry. The bank's loan book in Ireland stood at €15.6 billion last March, most of it secured on property.
Profit before taxation at the bank grew from €89 million in 1999 to €504 million in the year ending September, 2004.
