Business

WeWork opens for business at One Central Plaza

Central Bank’s former Dame Street headquarters office gets new lease of life as flexible workspace giant finally takes over

WeWork's newly opened offices at One Central Plaza in Dublin city centre. Photograph: Terry Quinlan/Pilot Media

Ronald Quinlan
Thu Jun 6 2024 - 05:58

Having lain dormant since its sale in 2017, the former headquarters of the Central Bank opens for business today as the new flagship location of WeWork’s Dublin operation.

One Central Plaza, as it is now known, comprises 73,000sq ft (6,780sq m) of flexible office space distributed over eight floors in the landmark 1970s block, which was designed by the late Sam Stephenson. It has now undergone a comprehensive refurbishment and will offer the flexible workspace giant’s members the use of 1,500 desks along with office suites, conference rooms, as well as bookable office space and phone booths for what it calls “heads-down tasks”. The building’s amenities include a barista bar, WeWork’s on-site community team, showers and a beer island. It also features a rooftop restaurant where members will have access to 360° views of the city.

The view from One Central Plaza

WeWork’s long-awaited arrival on Dame Street comes a full six years on from its agreement to occupy the building which is co-owned by US real-estate investor Hines and the Hong Kong-based Peterson Group.

The opening of One Central Plaza also follows a turbulent period for WeWork in which it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States and parted ways with its founder, Adam Neumann. The company finalised the rationalisation of its global portfolio at the end of May and saw its plan of reorganisation confirmed by the US bankruptcy court. Under the terms of that process, the company has eliminated $4 billion of its pre-petition debt and will save $12 billion in projected lease liabilities. It has now amended the terms of more than 170 of its office leases and exited from 160 of its locations. A spokesman for WeWork declined to comment when asked if the company had renegotiated the terms of the lease agreements at its four Dublin locations.

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The barista bar at One Central Plaza

The occupancy level across WeWork’s offices at 2 Dublin Landings, Charlemont Exchange and Harcourt Road are said by the company to be running at 70 per cent at present, while One Central Plaza will have a 50 per cent occupancy level from day one. Occupiers at the former Central Bank headquarter building include Klarna, Groupon, Taiga Cloud, SUSE and Amarin Pharmaceutical.

Commenting on today’s opening, WeWork’s global head of real estate Peter Greenspan said: “We’re incredibly excited to be opening our doors to WeWork One Central Plaza, an iconic location steeped in history in the heart of Dublin.

“As Dublin continues to cement itself as a business hub, we’re not only seeing more companies choose WeWork as their go-to partner to power their workplace strategies, but an increasing number of landlords are recognising the value of flex space to their portfolio.”

One of the boardrooms at One Central Plaza

WeWork’s chief revenue officer Ben Samuels added: “This opening marks a significant moment for WeWork as we enter a new phase for the company, putting our best foot forward with our strongest locations globally.”

Ronald Quinlan

Ronald Quinlan

Ronald Quinlan is Property Editor of The Irish Times

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