'Times' lease agreed in principle

Dublin City councillors responsible for the south-east of the city have agreed in principle to grant The Irish Times the lease of a council-owned building on Tara Street for its new head office.

The long-term lease of the newly renovated Liffey House at the junction of Tara Street and Townsend Street will earn the council an initial €1.7 million annually in rent, with reviews of the lease every five years.

The 10-member South East Area Committee yesterday approved the lease, in principle, on the understanding that full details of the deal will be provided to all councillors by the next council meeting in February.

The committee will recommend granting the lease to the 52 members of the council at the February 7th meeting. A majority vote of the council is necessary to sign off on the deal.

The Irish Times plans to move to Liffey House later this year after almost 110 years at its present location on the D'Olier Street, Fleet Street and Westmoreland Street triangle.

The arrangement with the council involves a 20-year lease on the 3,898 square metres (41,958 square feet) new building with an option to buy at a future date, a council official, Ms Breda Lane, told the meeting. The rent on the building has been set at €1.7 million per annum and the lease will be reviewed every five years, she said.

The Central Area Committee councillors approved the lease unanimously, but expressed disappointment that only minimal information on the deal had been provided by the city management.

"I am very concerned that we are entering into a lease with The Irish Times when we have no idea what the terms of reference are," Cllr Mary Freehill (Labour), chairing the meeting, said.

Sinn Féin's Cllr Daithí Doolan said he supported the plan in principle because it would provide much-needed income for the council, but also called for a greater level of information from the city manager.

"I propose we get the full terms and conditions before we give the full green light, but I don't want to veto progress and I do support this in principle."

At the conclusion of the discussion Cllr Freehill asked: "Will we agree in principle provided all the information is given to us before the next city council meeting?" Councillors agreed, and determined that the management should provide all relevant information on the deal by February 7th.