Dublin's Next Wave Of Occupiers Expand Space As Tech Cluster Matures
Dublin’s strong contingent of multinational tech companies is helping to attract a wave of new tech occupiers, which will expand both their flexible and permanent office space.
Knight Frank Director of Tenant Representation Daniel Shannon said that beyond Salesforce and other U.S. tech giants, firms such as Qualtrics, Docusign and Intercom are among the firms entering into the 100K SF of space bracket, with other tech firms expected to join them in the coming years.
“These companies are 50K to 100K SF occupiers, with 500 to 800 or 900 people. These are sizeable footprints for a relatively small market such as Dublin," he said.
"There is still an underlying demand there. We are seeing ongoing activity from other new entrants or other expansions as well in the market. So tech demand remains robust.”
Last week tech group Conga opened a new Dublin office with 40 new jobs.
In September last year Qualtrics signed up to double the size of its EMEA headquarters in Dublin and will bring its headcount to 600 staff from the current 300 by 2024. In 2019 Docusign announced plans for an “aggressive” staff recruitment campaign with the aim of reaching 1,000 employees, also by 2024. Shannon worked with both firms on their office requirements.
Matheson Commercial Real Estate partner Sally Anne Stone said that alongside the demand from secondary tech occupiers, landlords in Dublin are going to have to adapt to the array of different requirements.
“Tech firms, like many of us, are grappling with the hybrid model of getting back into the office," she said. "It’s not limited to the tech sector but every [tech] company is handling it differently. Some companies are saying they are fully remote.
“Some companies are saying it's very flexible, come in when you want, stay at home when you want, and other companies are being quite prescriptive. So it is interesting to see how the market adapts to that.
“For landlords you may have four tenants all deciding to have a different way of operating post-pandemic. It will be interesting to see how management companies deal with that in the medium term.”
