Office deal is the job

IN one of the biggest office deals in recent years in Cork, the Department of Social Protection has leased the 35,000 sq ft Abbeycourt House, on George’s Quay, to serve the roll-out of its Intreo employment-and-income supports services.

Fit-out and reorganisation of the tired, 1970s building is underway, with Sisks as contractors, and it’s expected to be up and running by early 2015.

The five-storey building — coincidentally a few doors away from the old South Terrace/George’s Quay labour exchange, which was vacated in the late 1980s/early ’90s — is owned by New Ireland Assurance Co, and the off-market deal was conducted by the OPW, via Lisneys, who’ve managed the building for many years.