TikTok Rethink Of Tropical Fruit Warehouse Could Alert Other Occupiers
Social media giant TikTok has decided against locating hundreds of its employees at the Tropical Fruit Warehouse offices in South Docklands and will instead consolidate all its Dublin-based staff at its Sorting Office European headquarters on Cardiff Lane.
TikTok had previously committed to a long-term lease at the Tropical Fruit Warehouse and was in the fit-out process for up to 800 workers but has changed its plans, The Irish Times reported.
The move could alert other corporate space seekers, with the historic Tropical Fruit Warehouse fully restored and completed to high environmental, social and corporate governance standards.
The publication cited a memo from management which said, “After careful business review and consideration of various factors, including post-pandemic working patterns, we have concluded that there is sufficient capacity both in terms of desk space and meeting rooms for all staff to be based at the Sorting Office. As a result, we are adjusting our plan and instead bringing our entire Dublin employee base together under one roof.
“The Sorting Office has become a vibrant space since opening last year. We think that having one single location for all employees will foster a stronger ‘one-team’ culture and simplify in-person collaboration right the way across the business.”
Although the 202K SF Sorting Office’s is not big enough to accommodate TikTok’s near 3,000-strong Irish workforce, the company believes it will suffice because post-pandemic working patterns mean the majority of its staff are only based in the office three days a week.
TikTok’s decision not to occupy the Tropical Fruit Warehouse follows its withdrawal two years ago from negotiations over 177K SF of space at Marlet Property Group’s Shipping Office development on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay. Since then around 80K SF has been taken up by financial services provider BNY.
Having signed a long-term lease with the building’s developer Iput in 2022 at a rent of about €60 per SF, TikTok’s plans for the Tropical Fruit Warehouse are not yet known. The company could sublet all or part of the 85K SF or assign the lease.
It may feel hopeful that a corporate occupier will be attracted to the property, given that it has been fully restored and now comprises a six-storey office block with high sustainability and efficiency credentials, completed to the Nearly Zero Energy Buildings standards, LEED Platinum and WELL-Gold.
A number of major occupiers are known to be looking for space in the city, either upsizing current requirements or looking to enter the market, and there are signs of more international investment interest.
French investor Atland Voisin recently acquired two commercial properties, paying about €11M for Kingram House on Dublin’s Fitzwilliam Place, which was put up for sale as part of a portfolio disposal from developer Ronan Group Real Estate.
It has also bought the €24M office building 20 on Hatch on Lower Hatch Street in Dublin city centre, which had been offered to the market on behalf of Davy Real Estate and comprises a six-storey-over-basement office building of 44.7K SF leased primarily to financial services provider MetLife.
