Insurance firm MBC makes trip from South Mall to Cork Airport Business Park

MBC Insurance is vacating its period building at 36 South Mall for a modern, more open-plan layout at Building 5200 at Cork Airport Business Park

MBC insurance is moving from Cork City's South Mall to Building 5200 at Cork Airport Business Park

South Mall, Cork's long-time business boulevard, has lost out on a ‘traditional’ style occupant, an insurance company, after its decision to move to upgraded offices at Cork Airport Business Park. The move is to a modern building bought two years ago for €8.5m by rapidly expanded business park investors Fine Grain Property.

Vacating its period building at 36 South Mall for a modern, more open-plan layout, is MBC Insurance, a Munster-based insurance and financial services firm with offices in Cork and Listowel, and trading since 1982.

It is making the move to Building 5200 at the airport business park,  in a ‘musical chairs’ move seen as a positive for the park. Wecent movement has seen leakage back to the city centre and to brand new quayside LEED-grade offices, such as that by Clearstream to Navigation Square.

Surveyor Siobhán Young, Cushman & Wakefield, did the letting deal to MBC Insurance, on a new 10-year lease at a stepped rent up to €17.50 per square foot for landlords Fine Grain Property, which bought the 60,000 sq ft Building 5200 off-market in 2018 for an unconfirmed €8.5m, when it had 20,000 sq ft vacant.

MBC is to part-occupy space on the first floor of the building, having recently completed a refit of the office “providing a contemporary workspace for staff". It had decided earlier this year to move to a modern office with open-plan floor plates and “the move also provides the company with the space to expand their team in time", said Ms Young.

MBC managing director Des Murphy said the move to Building 5200 would facilitate “our next phase of growth and development. As one of the leading insurance brokers in the region, this move fits well with our future plans.”

It is taking 3,000 sq ft at Building 5200. MBC’s managing director, Des Murphy, said it would facilitate “our next phase of growth and development. As one of the leading insurance brokers in the region, this move fits well with our future plans.”

MBC currently employs 30 people in Cork and Listowel.

New landlord Fine Grain Property describes itself as an Irish-based international investment and asset-management company, and is understood to have links to Singapore investors.

It has rapidly ramped up Irish investment to €180m, controlling over 900,000 sq of space and accommodating over 7,000 workers. It typically invests in facilities in business parks, and near universities and institutes of technology in Limerick (at the National Technology Park), as well as in Shannon, Athlone, Galway, Kildare and Dublin.

Other occupiers in the building include Aviva, Genesis, and Aon, while major presences in the park include Amazon, which recently appointed agents to find it new, larger offices in Cork.

Ms Young said: "It’s positive to see an indigenous company expanding and investing despite the challenges of 2020. The airport business park has an excellent community of global businesses including Amazon, RedHat, and IMB. It also has the benefit of extensive staff parking, which is a big attraction.”

Cushman & Wakefield has up to 20,000 sq ft remaining to let in the building at first-floor level, “and this can be subdivided to facilitate smaller occupiers, if required", added Ms Young.

The MBC deal, at 280 sq m/3,000 sq ft, is one of nine third-quarter office rent deals reported for Cork by Lisney in a recent report. It states: "Market activity improved significantly in Q3 2020 following a record low level the previous quarter as a result of the lockdown during part of March, April, and May".

It records  5,730 sq m taken up across nine individual lettings, including Cloudera at Penrose Dock:  83%, or five deals, occurred in the city centre, with three deals in the south suburbs accounting for 15% of activity. They were MBC at the airport business park, SynLab taking 360 sq m in SIAC House at Ballycureen Cross.

Lisney's Ed Hanafin noted that  after Covid-19 restrictions lifted in June, "office buildings began to regain some occupancy in Q3, but at significantly reduced levels due to social distancing requirements",  while remote working "is expected to continue into 2021 and will affect occupier demand in the short to medium term."

Details: Cushman & Wakefield 021 4275454

Lisney: 021 4275079