German bank subsidiary signs up for IFSC block

A subsidiary of a large German bank has completed contracts to lease 44,000 sft of office space in Guild House South, one of two new blocks under construction in the extension to Dublin's International Financial Services Centre. Commerz Management Services Ltd, a subsidiary of Commerzbank, will be paying a rent of £27.50 per sq. ft for three floors in the development, which will have a total of 150,000 sq. ft. The company is already located in the IFSC and, according to a spokesman, the move to Guild House represents a significant growth in its operations in Ireland.

Willie Dowling of Gunne is in discussions with several leading international companies to rent the remaining 31,000 sq. ft in the same building. The second block of 75,000 sq. ft will be occupied by FBD Holdings, which is developing the complex on a joint-venture basis with the Dublin Docklands Development Authority. Guild House is one of the last office schemes in the IFSC and is being built by Christopher Bennett and Son. Hans Beckmann, director Commerz Management Services in Dublin, says there are many ways of facing up to the increasing demand for productivity gains and cost controls. "We meet this challenge through a consolidation of services and professional activities into single sites where fund administration and banking services can be provided."

Guild House was designed by architects Scott Tallon Walker and overlooks Spencer Dock, which is to form part of the proposed National Conference Centre. A new bridge across the Liffey between Macken Street on the south side and Guild Street on the north will provide excellent access to the new office scheme. The other building with space available in the IFSC, The Enterprise Building, is being developed over Connolly Station by Lowstrand, the company headed by Padraig Burke. About 9,000 sq. ft out of 33,000 sq. ft has already been reserved and the remainder is available through Gunne. The 12-acre extension to the IFSC will include a hotel, 200 apartments, a pub, shops, a creche, leisure facilities and a college campus.