US firm touches down

A LETTING of 11,500 sq ft has gone through under the radar at a new unit at Cork Airport Business Park.

R&D company Hittite Microwave has taken up occupancy, with scope for 30 Cork jobs, 19 of them in research, in the Phase 2 business park unit, in a deal done via agents Lisney.

It’s the first letting of the ground floor space in unit 6900, with the upper floor already occupied by GlaxoSmithKline. Developers of Phase 2 are Brooklyn Properties, comprising the Airport Authority and Bank of Scotland. Rent sought was €15 psf, but flexible terms were agreed on the 11,500 sq ft. Four car spaces were included for each 1,000 sq ft let, said Lisney’s Edward Hanafin.

Hittite’s Irish operation MD Jason Lynch said Cork was chosen & due to a combination of availability of world-class engineers and the proximity to the semiconductor and integrated circuit design capabilities in Tyndall Institute, UCC and in CIT.

The US semiconductor company will establish two Cork operations, with 19 in research and 11 others at a new international operations centre serving non-US customers. The move was welcomed by Jobs and Innovation Minister Richard Bruton and was supported by the IDA.

Founded in 1985, NASDAQ-listed, firm is a technology company which designs and manufactures high frequency, analog and mixed signal electronics components. Products that will be designed at the facility will be high performance components for use in telecommunications and sensor systems across a variety of applications.

Details: Lisney, 021-4275079