Hibernia REIT is bringing to the rental market the former Commerzbank House office block in Dublin’s IFSC, which is being refurbished and renamed One Dockland Central.
One of the original blocks in the IFSC, it is being remodelled by a design team led by international architect HLW, working with Irish architectural practice RKD. Hibernia REIT bought Commerzbank House, along with the adjoining Guild House, in July, 2014, for more than €90 million.
Both buildings had lease issues: the principal tenant of Commerzbank House had already served notice of its intention to break its lease of four floors, while FBD, the original developer, held an overall lease of Guild House but had nine subtenancies in place.
Hibernia moved quickly to deal with these tenancy issues, agreeing an early settlement with Commerzbank and negotiating a surrender of FBD’s leasehold interest in July for €8.8 million.
One Dockland Central’s location at the southern end of Guild Street is near the Samuel Beckett Bridge, which connects north and south docklands. It is in the heart of north docklands as development activity gets under way at the planned Central Bank headquarters and progress is made on the Nama-backed Project Wave development on North Wall Quay.
Fitout
The fitout of One Docklands Central is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year. The remodelled building is undergoing a major overhaul and an upgrading of services and common areas. The improved amenities will include new lifts, energy-efficient lighting, additional shower and changing facilities, increased bicycle storage and a striking entrance, atrium and reception area. The building is expected to attract rents of at least €484 per sq m (€45 per sq ft).
One of the key attractions of the block is that it is within a few minutes’ walk of the Spencer Dock stop on the Luas Red Line and is only a short distance from both Connolly and Docklands railway stations and Busáras.
Over time, Hibernia will have the opportunity to similarly refurbish Guild House, which would then be rechristened Two Docklands Central. Hibernia secured control of this building last July and is currently evaluating the options as eight of its nine tenancies expire in the first quarter of 2017.
Hibernia REIT’s chief operating officer, Frank O’Neill, said the company’s long-term plan was to see both of the buildings transformed, so as to provide more than 13,006sq m (140,000sq ft) of modernised grade-A office space.
“We have worked hard and have now demonstrated the value of our active asset management strategy,” O’Neill said. “The repositioning of these buildings will create a high-quality working environment in a superb CBD [central business district] location with unrivalled accessibility. All of these factors will assist occupiers in recruiting and retaining key staff.”
BNP Paribas Real Estate is letting agent for One Docklands Central, which is attracting interest from both the domestic blue-chip and foreign direct investment sectors.
