Australian group Pepper Home Loans Ltd, American business media corporation Bloomberg, Galway-based Atlantic College and property internet company Daft have either agreed new office lettings or are in negotiations to acquire new premises in the city centre.
The push to find new accommodation comes at a time when office agents are reporting an increasing shortage of large, high quality office units in the south inner city.
Pepper Home Loans is to move into an office suite at 2 Park Place, Upper Hatch Street, which was developed by the Clancourt Group and has been empty for several years.
The new tenant will be paying a rent of €333 per sq m (€31 per sq ft) for the 789sq m (8,500sq ft) under a 10-year lease with a five-year break option.
Last June Pepper Home Loans acquired GE’s Irish sub-prime mortgage business in a deal that cost the US giant €149 million. The mortgage business covers 3,500 homes with loans of €600 million.
Michael Healy of Savills advised Pepper Home Loans on the Park Place lease. HT Meagher O’Reilly, which acted for Clancourt, is looking for a tenant for 7,432sq m (80,000sq ft) in an adjoining block on Upper Hatch Street, which is to be vacated by Aviva.
Although Aviva is understood to be paying a rent of about €452 per sq m (€42 per sq ft), a new tenant could expect to pick up the space for a rent in the early €30s per sq ft. The company’s lease has several years to run.
Around the corner from Upper Hatch Street, Bloomberg is to lease 1,115sq m (12,000sq ft) on the first floor of the Harcourt Building, a prestigious block developed by David Agar and Paddy Shovlin but now under the control of receivers Deloitte.
Bloomberg will be paying a rent of about €300 per sq m (€27.87 per sq ft) for the first floor of the building under a sub-lease from the UK-based Man Group which is committed to paying a rent of €500 per sq m (€46.45 per sq ft) until 2015.
Two of the six other floors in the building have been reserved by an overseas company under a new lease which is due to be signed shortly. Paul Scannell of HWBC, who is handling the letting for the receiver, said it would be premature to comment at this stage. Starbucks operates a coffee shop on the ground floor.
Fergal Burke of GVA Donal O Buachalla acted for Bloomberg and Conor Whelan of BNP Paribas Real Estate represented the Man Group.
Meanwhile the Galway-based Atlantic College is expected to complete contracts shortly to rent about 1,393sq m (15,000sq ft) in a new office block off Pearse Street. The building is located at the rear of the headquarters of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. HT Meagher O’Reilly had been quoting a rent of about €215 per sq m (€20 per sq ft) under a 35-year lease with an eight-year break.
Also in the south inner city, Daft has been surveying a number of available office blocks.
The internet company is expected to rent up to 929sq m (10,000sq ft).
