Wonga to reassign docklands lease after Dublin arm closes

Britain's biggest payday lender, Wonga Group, is planning to assign its lease of high-quality office space in the south Dublin docklands following its decision to close its operation in the city.

The controversial lender, which charged interest at a rate of as much as 5,000 per cent on so-called payday or short-term loans, announced last February that it planned to shed a third of its workforce, including 175 people in the Dublin office at the Bloodstone Building on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay.

The company will start moving out in July.

Dublin agent Murphy Mulhall has been engaged to find a replacement tenant for the office space, which extends to 2,445sq m (26,319sq ft), which will come with a full range of furniture, fixtures and fittings.

Wonga invested heavily in the fit-out, including an upgrade of the air-conditioning system. The space is laid out with a mixture of well-appointed meeting rooms, a boardroom and open-plan offices.

Extra features include shower and changing facilities, break-out spaces, a full canteen and a games room.

The lease on the third and fourth floors runs for 10 years from December 2013, and includes a tenant-only break option at the end of year five. The passing rent, €269 a square metre (€25 a square foot), is well below open-market levels for this quality of building.

James Mulhall of Murphy Mulhall said it was rare that grade-A space became available with such a high-spec finish. This meant an incoming tenant could avail of a low passing rent as well as significant savings because of the full fit-out.