IDA business park in Galway getting new office building

Fine Grain Property, a Singapore-based company with strong Irish links, has begun development work on a mid-sized office building in Galway's Parkmore East Business Campus.

The three-storey block, which extends to 4,180sq m (45,000sq ft) is expected to facilitate the IDA's job creation programme and foreign direct investment in the Galway region.

The high-quality building was designed by architects Arthur Gibney & Partners and will be ready for occupation in mid-2018. A new tenant will have the option to significantly extend the block if additional space is required.

Parkmore East was established by the IDA and is located about 10 minutes’ drive from Galway city. Adjacent facilities already accommodate a number of high-profile international companies, including SAP and Oracle.

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Invested

Fine Grain, a well-established international real estate investor and operator, was founded in Singapore in 2007 by Irish man Colin MacDonald. The Irish business is headed by chief executive Cormac Ó Tighearnaigh, the former deputy head of Jurys Inn. Fine Grain is chaired by Ron Bolger, the former managing partner of KMPG Ireland.

The company has successfully invested in a number of commercial property projects in Singapore, matching the right tenants with the right properties. It has also purchased an office building in Parkmore West Business Park in Galway and another block at Eastpoint in Dublin.

Bolger said Fine Grain had more than €50 million in capital to invest, which, combined with prudent leverage from banks in Ireland, would allow it to acquire more than €100 million in industrial, logistics and business park properties.

The Irish Strategic Investment Fund, an investor in Fine Grain, called the Parkmore East project an "excellent example of our 'double bottom line' mandate of generating a commercial return and supporting economic activity and employment in Ireland.

"We are committing capital on commercial terms to facilitate and encourage FDI in the west of Ireland. We anticipate this investment will generate significant economic activity in the region, both directly and indirectly."