BRITISH broadcasting television (BSkyB) is expected to announce the creation of around 400 jobs in Dublin following an agreement to lease part of the newly-built Burlington Plaza office development at Burlington Road in Dublin 4.
The company is to rent two floors of the two-part office complex which is also to accommodate the new headquarters of the Bank of Ireland.
Sky already employs 65 staff in its Dublin office at Earlsfort Terrace and also operates a call centre in Cork. It also has retail outlets in many shopping centres around the country. The company has been grossing ever increasing revenues from a fast-growing pool of Irish subscribers.
There are currently 667,000 Irish homes subscribing to the Sky service at a cost of anywhere between €25 and €76 per month. Bars and clubs pay from €389 to €945 per month, depending on the value of the publican’s licence.
BSkyB reported an operating profit last year for its entire network of over £1 billion (€1.159 billion). The company insisted on strict confidentiality in recent months in its discussions with the Irish authorities and also with estate agents handling the office lease. Although the company has yet to formally sign off on the lease, it has agreed a rent of € 323 per sq m (€ 30 per sq ft) for 4,366 sq m (47,000 sq ft) on the fourth and fifth floors of Plaza 1 on Burlington Road. The ten-year lease is likely to include the now standard break option after five years. The company has also managed to secure a longer than usual rent-free period of 18 months because of the high volume of newly-built office space overhanging the market.
There was no comment yesteday from Darren Nugent of CB Richard Ellis, who was advising the landlords, or from James Nugent of Lisney who is representing Sky. Sky may well end up sharing the eight-storey block with the UK banking conglomerate, Citi Group, which is currently looking for between another 6,503 sq m and 9,290 sq m (70,000/100,000 sq ft) in addition to the substantial block it already occupies in the IFSC.
The company is also known to be looking at Cumberland House on Fenian Street where Eircom is prepared to offer attractive incentives to any company prepared to take over the lease. Citi’s search also includes Eastpoint Business Park in the Dublin docklands where a newly-completed block is available at a highly competitive rent.
Sky’s proposed new Irish base was developed by AIB Investment Managers and a consortium of private investors, including the Flynn family. The group also funded the adjoining Plaza 2 which is currently being fitted out as a new headquarters for Bank of Ireland. The bank is paying a rent of €322 per sq m (€30 a sq ft) for 6,967 sq m (75,000 sq ft) under a 20-year lease. The bank is expected to relocate to the new premises before the end of this year.
Another company which looked at Burlington Plaza, Mastercard, has now apparently switched its attention to Central Park in Sandyford. The company, currently based in Blackrock, is seeking between 2,787 and 3,716 sq m (30,000 and 40,000 sq ft).
