Work starts on €106m scheme

The decision by Treasury Holdings, Derek Quinlan and David Arnold to proceed with one of the largest ever speculative office schemes in Dublin will take the market by surprise, writes Jack Fagan.

A CONSORTIUM HAS begun developing one of the largest ever speculative office schemes in Dublin with an end value of €106 million.

Number One Central Park in Leopardstown will have a floor area of 16,680sq m (179,543sq ft) when it is completed in about 18 months.

The decision by Treasury Holdings, Derek Quinlan and David Arnold to proceed with the development at a time of fears about the economy and the continuing crisis in commercial property financing will take the market by surprise.

"This is an important marker by three leading developers of their faith in the economy, the office market and Central Park in particular. It shows great confidence in all three," says Declan O'Reilly of letting agent HT Meagher O'Reilly. James Nugent of Lisney is the joint letting agent.

To attract one or two major companies to Leopardstown, the agents will be offering a significant rental incentive of €323 per sq m (€30 per sq ft) - roughly half the going rate for high quality space in the south Dublin docklands. Car-parking spaces will be rented at around €2,000 per annum - again half the going rate in the city.

The new Leopardstown complex will be built around a central atrium and can be divided into two separate buildings of 8,340sq m (89,771sq ft) each.

A typical floor plate will average around 2,110sq m (22,712sq ft) of space.

Designed by architects Henry J Nolan, the new office space will come with a high technical specification and finishes throughout.

Central Park attracted one of the largest ever office lettings in 2000 when Eircell - which is now trading as Vodafone - leased 24,432sq m (263,000sq ft) of space.

Vodafone's €246 per sq m (€22.86 per sq ft) rent is currently under review.

Other high profile tenants in Central Park include Merrill Lynch, First Active, LeasePlan, Tullow Oil, Volkswagen Bank and Vivas Healthcare.

Central Park's good transport links have been a strong selling point. It is beside the M50 with easy access to the N11 and the Luas green line.

The first stop on the extended Luas service from Sandyford to Bride's Glen in Cherrywood will be beside Number One Central Park.

Although there are several major office lettings in the pipeline most of the tenants are expected to settle for the Dublin docklands.

Anglo Irish Bank is moving to the north Dublin docklands as is AIB Capital Markets.

Bank of Ireland is also in discussions to set up a back office facility in the same area where Liam Carroll is undercutting other developers on rents and other conditions.

Several other developers - including Treasury Holdings - are in contention for a new KPMG head office.

There is also intense competition to sign up the likes of Deloitte, Central Bank, Citco Group, Arthur Cox and the IDA for new office headquarter buildings in Dublin.