KPMG selects Hibernia Reit to develop new Dublin headquarters

KPMG has selected Hibernia Reit as the preferred bidder for the delivery of its new Dublin headquarters.

Following the receipt of proposals from six of the country’s leading developers, the Big Four accounting and advisory firm had refined its deliberations in recent weeks to consider two other schemes being delivered by Shane Whelan’s Westridge Real Estate and the Kenny family’s Clancourt Group respectively.

The Irish Times understands that KPMG’s partners voted to select Hibernia Reit’s scheme as their preferred option on Thursday night. The parties will now enter into a period of negotiations with a view to finalising the deal.

Hibernia Reit’s Harcourt Square scheme will comprise a 31,866sq m (343,000sq ft) development on the site of the current Dublin regional Garda headquarters on Harcourt Street.

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Operations

Westridge Real Estate for its part had looked for KPMG to locate its operations within the 53,110sq m (571,671sq ft) of office space it intends to deliver as part of the redevelopment of the former DIT Kevin Street campus.

The Clancourt Group had been vying to secure KPMG as the tenant for the 36,845sq m (396,596sq ft) of offices it intends to develop on a site bounded by Charlemont Street and Harcourt Road. KPMG already occupies some 1,858sq m (20,000sq ft) of office space at Clancourt’s Park Place scheme on Hatch Street. The firm entered into a 10-year lease on the first and second floors of Two Park Place in 2019.

KPMG currently occupies two buildings in Dublin city centre, one at Stokes Place on Harcourt Street, and another in the IFSC, but is looking to accommodate its entire complement of 2,500 office-based workers under one roof following the expiration of its existing leases in 2026.

While the firm first signalled its intention in 2012 to secure a new headquarters in the capital, in 2014 its then managing partner Shaun Murphy said the company would continue to operate from Stokes Place until 2026.

The decision followed what Mr Murphy described at the time as a comprehensive analysis of KPMG’s future needs and feedback from clients indicating their preference for the firm’s existing location.