Zazzle deal dazzles

A US online custom design and sales firm, Zazzle, is setting up a European HQ on Cork City’s Union Quay, capable of hosting 150-200 employees in an IDA-backed expansion.

The 15-year-old company, based in Redwood, California, has purchased a former converted warehouse building near City Hall and the South Mall, previously used by Kraft Foods, Guinness House and Cork law firm Henry PF Donegan. The deal — likely to be in the region of €1.5m — was done off-market, and no terms have been disclosed.

Henry PF Donegan vacated the Union Quay building in recent weeks, relocating to No 6 Lapps Quay. They had bought the 11,000 sq ft building in 2008 for a reported €3.5m-plus, after vacating the four-storey Georgian No 74 South Mall, which was then put up for sale guiding €1.6m. No 74 — adjoining the Imperial Hotel — never sold, and now is being refitted for short-term flexible business lets.