Cork Docklands takes off with Navigation Square phase 2

Construction has begun on the second block of the massive Navigation Square office block in the city centre.

O'Callaghan Properties have broke ground on the second phase of the city’s biggest ever office development.

The first building of the €90 million project - including 150,000 square feet of offices - is ready for occupation, with developers moving ahead with the second block of an additional 100,000 sq ft. 

It is due to be ready for tenant fit-out in August 2019.

Brian O'Callaghan, managing director of O'Callaghan Properties, said there is significant interest in the city's docklands at present.

"The Docklands are clearly emerging as the next preferred location for inward and indigenous investors who wish to do business in and from Cork," he said.

The full Navigation Square development includes a total of 350,000 sq ft of offices on Albert Quay. It is four separate buildings and will host some 3,000 employees when fully occupied.

Deutsche Börse Group, one of the largest exchange organisations worldwide is Navigation Square’s first tenant through its post-trade services arm, Clearstream.

Currently employing 362 staff at Cork Airport Business Park, Clearstream will add 200 further jobs through its move to Navigation Square. Clearstream provides the post-trade infrastructure for the Eurobond market and services for securities from 56 domestic markets worldwide. Clearstream is taking 70,000 sq ft of space in the first building in Navigation Square with a further provision for 20,000 sq ft.

"There is a really strong development momentum in Cork city at present and a growing realisation that the cost of doing business here is much more competitive than Dublin across a range of critical metrics, especially the price of commercial property, which is about 50% of that in Dublin”, Mr O'Callaghan said.

"With effective marketing and the full delivery of the Government investment programme for Cork as outlined in Ireland 2040 strategy, I think Cork is well placed to kick on to become a city of scale and a genuine counterbalance to Dublin in the post Brexit era. We should be operating confidently in that belief."