Pioneer to be first tenant of 'new IFSC' at landmark George's Quay

Pioneer Investment Management Limited, the international management company which was acquired last autumn by the Milan-based UniCredito Italian banking group, will be the first company to occupy the new 13-floor landmark office building at George's Quay in Dublin.

Pioneer is leasing three floors of the building, totalling 49,944 sq ft, on the fifth, sixth and seventh floors with an option to be exercised by March 2002 to take a further 13,745 sq ft on the eight floor plus 10 car spaces.

Like some other companies moving into George's Quay, it will be paying a rent of £38.50 (€48.88) per sq ft under a 25-year lease with a break clauses at the 15th year. Pioneer will also have the use of 40 car-parking spaces at £2,750 (€3,492) each.

Pioneer, which also manages assets of €110 billion (€139bn) and currently employs 350 people in Dublin, is due to increase its employment levels substantially over the next two years. It is expected to sell the lease of its current headquarters in Custom House Plaza in the IFSC and to move staff to George's Quay from a number of other locations in the city.

"Pioneer's move underlines the fact that George's Quay is now firmly established along with the IFSC as part of the financial services centre of Dublin," according to Tony O'Loughlin, office director with Jones Lang LaSalle, which arranged the letting on behalf of the developers, Cosgrave Property Group.

The location of the George's Quay complex, virtually opposite the IFSC on the opposite side of the city quays, has ensured its success. The first phase of the development with 100,000 sq ft of space is occupied by four other international financial services companies, Global Asset Management, Invesco, Dexia and Northern Trust.

"George's Quay is in many respects the new IFSC, with high specification office accommodation and an even better location on the south bank of the Liffey," he added. "It is right beside all the shopping and leisure facilities of the city centre as well as being at the core of its public transport links."

Laurence McCabe of Ganly Walters said that when it became a priority for Pioneer Investment Management to identify a new headquarters following its takeover by UniCredito, and subsequent expansion, a number of buildings were considered. George's Quay met all the criteria laid down by the bank in terms of location, design and timing.

The final phase of block A, which Pioneer will occupy, is due to be completed by summer 2002. In all, the block will have 154,742 sq ft of office space topped with a penthouse conference room with panoramic views over Dublin.

Rents in George's Quay are generally in line with those in the IFSC where recent reviews have generally moved them up to between £38 and £40 (€48.25 and €50.79) per sq ft. Agents report a general softening of rents in the IFSC where the volume of vacant space appears to be increasing. Premiums are also dropping or disappearing altogether even though Dublin agent Fergus Slattery secured combined key money of over £2 million (€2.5) last October for two office units of 22,000 sq ft and 9,000 sq ft in George's Dock occupied by Deutsche Bank.