A US company planning to open a call centre outside Dublin is currently looking for a substantial office building where it is expected to employ a workforce of up to 1,000.
The company is looking for 9,290 sq m (100,000 sq ft) of space and has concentrated its search so far in the Limerick/Shannon region as well as in Dundalk and Waterford.
Declan O’Reilly of Dublin commercial estate agents HT Meagher O’Reilly has been engaged to find a suitable premises for the unnamed company which is apparently anxious to proceed with the new venture early in the next year. Contacted in New York yesterday, Mr O’Reilly said he was precluded from discussing the project or identifying the firm involved.
The inclusion of Waterford as a possible venue for the new company is hardly surprising following the recent closure of the Talk Talk plant there with a loss of almost 600 jobs. However the building used by that company is likely to be ruled out at an early stage as it could not accommodate anything like 1,000 workers. Similarly it will be equally difficult to find a large enough premises in the Dundalk area.
While the Limerick-Shannon region also does not have a 100,000 sq ft office block standing by, the promoters are likely to look at the option of upgrading and converting one of a number of vacant industrial buildings around the city.
There are several options available including part of the former Dell assembly plant near the city centre. Office blocks of this size are also in short supply in Dublin city centre since construction activity ceased about three years ago.
However, much attention is currently being focussed on the partially built office building in the north Dublin docklands which was to have been used as a new headquarters for Anglo Irish Bank.
Several development companies, most of them based overseas, have expressed interest in acquiring the block, which is likely to cost in excess of €40 million to complete. The half-built block and the waterfront site are ultimately the responsibility of Nama which would like to see them used as a new Irish headquarters for the American bank, BNY Mellon.
With a number of parties apparently chasing the same development opportunity, the State asset manager is expected to offer it for sale by tender to the highest bidder.
The agency also has the option of financing the completion of the building, which will have a floor area of around 21,376 sq m (230,000 sq ft).
The seven-storey block was one of a large number of properties owned by Liam Carroll’s Zoe group of companies which collapsed into receivership and liquidation in 2009 with debts of €1.3 billion.
