Hines and Peterson Group has announced that global community company and shared space provider, WeWork, will be One Central Plaza’s new anchor tenant. The announcement comes just one week after the decision to approve planning permission by An Bord Pleanála for the redevelopment of the former Central Bank building on Dame Street.
Marking today’s announcement, Brian Moran, senior managing director of Hines, said, “We are delighted that WeWork has opted for the iconic location of Central Plaza. With planning permission just granted for this flagship Dublin development, and leasing of the building’s office component now almost fully complete, this is yet another very positive step for this unique project. Central Plaza will accommodate over 1,300 professional workers and create over 300 new full and part-time retail and hospitality jobs across the five existing buildings that make up the Central Plaza development.”
WeWork's EVP Real Estate, Patrick Nelson, said, “Expanding our Dublin portfolio with a location like Central Plaza really proves our commitment and dedication to this city. We recently opened our first location, which has been an incredible success, and we’ve seen interest from a mix of both start-ups and large corporate companies taking space with us. We look forward to welcoming new companies to this iconic location, adding to our already flourishing ecosystem of members, who will no doubt benefit greatly from the nearby amenities, locality and transport."
WeWork has leased space across eight floors. Its occupation is expected to take place in Q4 of 2019. Once the redevelopment is complete, the office will feature open plan and breakout meeting spaces, incorporating BER A3, and LED lighting, and creating an entirely modern environment. The project will also be LEED Gold certified and Wired Score Platinum.
Central Plaza will include retail, restaurants and cafés at street and basement level. The existing plaza will also be expanded to create a dynamic new streetscape towards College Green and along Fownes Street and Cope Street, creating a link between the key retail and tourist destinations of Grafton Street, College Green, and Temple Bar.
Jim O’Reilly of Knight Frank, who acted as the office agent, said, “Hines is undertaking a significant redevelopment at Central Plaza. Securing WeWork relatively early in the marketing process is a testament to the quality of scheme and the vision that Hines have had from day one. WeWork is an excellent addition to the development. They also join Amtrust, who recently pre-committed to 6/8 College Green”.
