Dublin property developer David Arnold has pre-let a 41,000-square-foot high-tech computer production facility at Sandyford Business Park, Co Dublin. Planning permission has been sought for the plant, which will occupy a two-acre site acquired from Chadwicks for £1.7 million.
The existing Chadwicks building will be demolished to make way for the new development, which will be occupied by Avid Technology, a software company specialising in the media and the film industry. The US company will be paying rent of £450,000 for the plant under a 20-year lease, which is understood to include a break. The rent equates to £11 per square foot, compared with rents of £10 to £14 per square foot in the adjoining Sandyford Business Centre.
The new building will include 16,000 square feet of B1-type space, 15,000 square feet of high-quality offices and 10,000 square feet of warehousing. There will be on-site parking for 109 cars. John Lombard of the Morrissey agency acquired the Chadwicks site for Mr Arnold and also arranged the pre-letting. Costello Commercial acted for Chadwicks, which opened a new Woodies store at Sandyford a few years ago.
Avid Technology, which is to use the Sandyford plant as its European manufacturing HQ, has seen its turnover rise from $32 million in 1991 to $406 million in 1995. It is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The company is expected to increase its present staff level of 45 once it moves into its new building.
Institutional investors, anxious to strengthen their industrial portfolio, are likely to show interest in the investment, which should make in excess of £5 million if it is offered for sale.
