Salesforce 500K SF Office Whopper — How Does It Compare With Dublin's Biggest Deals?

U.S. cloud computing company Salesforce is reportedly in talks to lease all 500K SF of the office element of Ronan Group Real Estate’s Spencer Place development in the Docklands.  

The six office blocks, which have shared basement levels, are part of a mixed-use scheme that also includes a 212-room hotel, restaurants and shops.

If Salesforce does sign on the dotted line, the transaction will represent the largest single office space deal in the current cycle.

According to CBRE, the biggest take-up in recent years was Microsoft’s occupation of its 372K SF HQ campus in South County Business Park in Q4 2017.

CBRE said the second largest deal done was Google’s purchase in Q2 of this year of 238K SF of office space in Boland’s Quay on Barrow Street. The company paid around €300M to buy the entire Boland’s Quay development, which also includes apartments, cafés, shops and cultural spaces.

In another huge owner occupation, the Central Bank of Ireland moved from  Dame Street to its brand new 194K SF waterfront home on North Wall Quay in 2017.

In the biggest recent letting, Indeed signed up to a 20-year lease on 205K SF at Kennedy Wilson’s 100 and 300 Capital Dock last December.

In March 2017, Facebook took 188K SF in the Beckett Building in East Wall. The building was owned at the time by Comer Group but was bought earlier this year by Kookmin Bank for €101M.

Completing the current top six is Amazon’s pre-let of the 172K SF Vertium Building on Burlington Road, Dublin 4, agreed in Q2 2016. The online retailer finalised its move into the building earlier this year.

Spencer Place is a joint venture between Ronan and U.S. REIT Colony NorthStar. At the end of 2017 Colony commited to funding the scheme speculatively, a decision which will have paid off handsomely if Salesforce does complete its deal.