College Square, the landmark office scheme developed by Pat Crean’s Marlet Property Group, has been selected by Workday for its new European headquarter office, The Irish Times has learned.
Having abandoned its original plan to build its new Dublin base in Grangegorman earlier this year, the US enterprise technology giant looks set to occupy 44,130 sq m (475,000 sq ft) of the office accommodation at College Square.
It is understood that agents for Kennedy Wilson (Marlet’s last remaining competitor in Workday’s office selection process) have been informed that their bid to accommodate the US tech giant at their Coopers Cross scheme in the city’s north docklands has been unsuccessful
The Workday deal at College Square will be the largest single office letting to have taken place in the European office market since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020. News of the transaction will be seen as a significant vote of confidence in the Dublin office market.
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Developed on the sites occupied formerly by Apollo House and the neighbouring College House, College Square is a major mixed-use scheme comprising a total of 50,170 sq m (540,000 sq ft) of LEED Platinum office accommodation and 1,580 sq m (17,000 sq ft) of retail space distributed over 10 floors.
The development has an overall height of 21 storeys owing to the inclusion of 54 high-end apartments arranged across 11 floors above the office element of the scheme.
News of Workday’s decision to locate its European headquarters operations at College Square follows a series of recent and not-insubstantial office lettings in the Dublin market.
Only seven weeks ago, the Big Four accounting and consulting firm EY confirmed its intention to base its new Dublin offices at Wilton Park, the 53,885 sq m (580,000 sq ft) office campus developed by Irish property company, Iput, at Wilton Place.
In June meanwhile, international financial services giant BNY (formerly BNY Mellon) signed a deal for upwards of 8,361 sq m (90,000 sq ft) of office space at the Shipping Office, the 16,443 sq m (177,000 sq ft) scheme developed by Marlet at Sir John Rogerson’s Quay in Dublin’s south docklands.
More recently, international law firm Addleshaw Goddard signed a new long-term lease for 2,576 sq m (27,722 sq ft) at Fitzwilliam 28 for its new Dublin offices.
Elsewhere in the city, US-headquartered financial giant BlackRock is understood to be closing in on a deal to occupy 2,044 sq m (22,000 sq ft) of office space at Glencar House in Ballsbridge as its new Dublin headquarters. While the terms of the deal have yet to be finalised, it is understood that BlackRock will be paying a blended rent of about €65 per sq ft.
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