RDS finds final tenants for Simmonscourt office space

THE ROYAL DUBLIN SOCIETY has now found tenants for all the office space it developed behind Bewley’s Hotel at Simmonscourt in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.

The Belgian software company BSB will be the final tenant to move into the park where a total of 8,546sq m (92,000sq ft) of space has been developed in two blocks over the past three years.

BSB is understood to have agreed a rent in the mid €20s per sq ft (in excess of €215 per sq m) for 1,850 sq m (19,913 sq ft) in the five-storey Minerva House. The company is due to move into the first and second floors early in December, sharing the building with Websense Ltd and ION Trading Ltd.

Irish Distillers was one of the first tenants to opt for the RDS development, taking space in Simmonscourt House which, like Minerva House, has one of the best energy efficiency ratings for an office development in the city. Both blocks are exceptionally well finished and have basement car parks.

The RDS spent €34 million developing the two blocks which will now be producing a rental income of around €3 million per annum.

The society also has a 10-year planning permission running out in 2014 for two more blocks, one of them with a floor area of 6,503sq m (70,000sq ft) and the other with 2,787sq m (30,000sq ft).

The RDS’s chief executive, Michael Duffy, said the office development formed part of the society’s commercial strategy. “We will now be turning our attention to the planning permission and evaluating the different options,” he explained.

BSB has secured support from IDA Ireland to recruit another 120 workers to expand its Dublin operations hub and add a research and development function. It already has 65 employees and opened its Dublin office in 2009.

BSB is a provider of critical software to the financial services industry. The new research and development team will develop software technology and integrate new functions into its two leading software solutions:Solife for life insurance and Soliam for portfolio management.

BSB was founded in 1995 and employs 450 people in eight European offices.

Lisney and Jones Lang LaSalle were joint letting agents for the RDS.