NIB on the lookout for new HQ in city centre

NATIONAL IRISH Bank is on the hunt for a new headquarters in the city centre after announcing last week that it planned to cut 150 jobs and close almost half its branch network as part of a major restructuring programme, writes GRETCHEN FRIEMANN

The news underscores the Danish-owned bank’s commitment to Ireland and delivers a much needed boost to Dublin’s crisis-hit office market.

Vacancy levels in the city centre have tipped over 15 per cent according to some agents’ calculations – that’s three times higher than they were at the peak of the property boom – while take-up levels have halved in less than 18 months.

The impact on rents has been equally dramatic with prime locations registering a 40 per cent drop, according to a recent market survey by CBRE. However, anecdotal reports indicate the decline may be even steeper. Informed sources claim the rent on one city centre office deal was as low as €215.25 per sq m (€20 per sq ft), which represents a 63 per cent drop on the market’s boom time rates of €592 per sq m (€55 per sq ft). While this may be an exceptional case, competition for NIB’s business is likely to be intense.

Although there has been a steady increase in deals over the past three months, offering the market some hope the worst is over, the bank will have a wide selection of properties to choose from.

According to an NIB spokesperson, the bank will require up to 7,432sq m (80,000sq ft) of space, making it one of the largest office requirements in the capital’s business district so far this year.

The move will consolidate NIB’s head office operations and its corporate banking division, which is based in the IFSC, under the one roof and will house around 140 employees.

NIB had considered relocating its headquarters two years ago but, along with many other financial organisations mired in the property bubble aftermath, the plans were put on ice as the bank weeded through its loan book. According to well-placed sources, NIB initially looked at purchasing a development site for its new head office.

Yet, as one agent points out, this option is now unlikely to be pursued given the number of vacant buildings in the city centre, particularly in the docklands, which is thought to be the bank’s preferred area.

Properties that may come under the bank’s consideration include: Sean Dunne’s Blood Stone building at Warrington Place, Hanover Quay; and Treasury Holding’s 15-storey Montevetro tower at Grand Canal Dock, which will be completed next year.

Then there is developer Liam Carroll’s Brooks Thomas site at North Wall Quay where the skeleton structure of Anglo Irish Bank’s intended headquarters testifies to the fierce turf war that was waged for the property at the height of the economic boom. The €200 million development will most likely be controlled by Nama, following the collapse of Liam Carroll’s property empire. But its future depends on an impending decision from An Bord Pleanála.

Last January Dublin City Council granted Liam Carroll permission to retain the building works on the site after a High Court challenge by Sean Dunne quashed an earlier planning decision from the Dublin Docklands Development Authority. The council’s ruling was subsequently appealed to An Bord Pleanála by Dunne and Treasury Holdings.