Bank of Ireland division to rent Dún Laoghaire premises

Dún Laoghaire is to get a boost this month with news that Bank of Ireland Payment Acceptance (BOIPA) is relocating its 100 employees from East Point Business Park in Dublin 3 to Adelphi Plaza on George's Street Upper.

The payments solutions operation is to occupy the entire second floor at Adelphi Plaza, which extends to 1,211sq m (13,038sq ft) and rent 15 basement car-parking spaces.

It has taken the space on a new 20-year lease “with incentives offered at commencement”, according to Keith O’Neill of BNP Paribas Real Estate who represented BOIPA. The rent works out at €269 per sq m (€25 per sq ft).

Adelphi Plaza will reach 92 per cent occupancy with the arrival of BOIPA. It has already signed up Aecom, Cobham, Pure Storage, Prothena and CRIF as tenants.

Building refurbishment

The 1990s-built property was acquired by local investor Solvalla Properties Ltd in 2013. It has since embarked upon a floor-by-floor refurbishment of the five-storey block of 5,844sq m (62,900sq ft) to bring it up to a BER rating of B1 which compares well with most new office schemes. Works were completed in 2015 and included an impressive new entrance.

Swedish multinational Ericsson opted to auction its former offices, then called the Adelphi Centre, in Dún Laoghaire in late 2013 with a disclosed reserve of €3.5 million. The block had been offered for sale in 2011 at €4.95 million but there were no takers. In the end it was acquired at the bottom on the market for about €3.65 million.

Adelphi Plaza offers sea views from some of the upper floors and, because of its location in the centre of Dún Laoghaire, has easy access to the Dart and bus services. The Dart provides transport to the city centre within 20 minutes.

Six-month search

Keith O'Neill said that, during the six-month search for BOIPA's new offices, it "proved very challenging to source high-quality grade A office buildings along the Merrion Road Dart line corridor" and that "Blackrock and Dún Laoghaire in particular had almost no new/refurbished options that could sufficiently meet BOIPA's requirements".

Mark Headon of Knight Frank represented Solvalla Properties.

The last remaining space at Adelphi Plaza extends to 436.65sq m (4,700sq ft) and is available through joint agents Knight Frank and Lisney at €296 per sq m (€27.50 per sq ft) and €1,400 per car-parking space.