Law firm RDJ returns to Cork's South Mall as estate agents Savills make docklands move

Both are going to A-rated buildings, one of them four years old, the other a remarkable 199 years of age

Wed, 03 May, 2023 - 18:30

Property Editor Tommy Barker

TWO highly significant office relocations are set to take place in Cork City’s South Mall, with the return of leading corporate law firm RDJ and, conversely, the move from South Mall to new docklands offices at Penrose House next to the rail station by property advisers Savills which has been based opposite the Imperial Hotel for half a century.

Penrose House and the Penrose Dock development during construction in 2020. Savills are to take c 4,000 sq ft with mezzanine at the rear of the retained period, limestone fronted Penrose House. Picture Dan Linehan

Having left the South Mall at No 12 a decade ago for new, large floor plate offices at City Gate in Mahon, law firm RDJ is to move back from that south suburban base to the most-recently built offices on the South Mall, at No 85, developed in 2019 on a painstakingly assembled site.

Likely to be hugely welcomed back by city traders, retailers and hospitality operators, the RDJ move back to the South Mall will be to highly energy efficient offices. The move sees 170 existing jobs in RDJ’s Cork offices come back to the city’s traditional business, legal and property heartland, in the lower floors of a 45,000 sq ft Gold LEED building developed by JCD Group in 2019.

RDJ employs 300 nationally, with offices also in Galway and Dublin, with over 50 jobs in each of those.

Lobby of 85 South Mall, home to KPMG and, shortly, law firm RDJ

In its native Cork, RDJ is taking over the lease on the lower two floors from tenants cybersecurity firm Forcepoint, which did a multi-million euro fit-out at No 85 just before the covid outbreak in 2020 when it was recruiting additional staff in 2019/2020, but it’s understood that Forcepoint’s offices were never fully occupied.

Now, RDJ is taking c 18,000 sq ft at No 85, where KPMG occupy the upper floors in the building, thus now anchored by two very established professional services giants.

RDJ is vacating City Gate in Mahon where it moved to a decade ago and is taking advantage of a break option in the lease there, where it occupied 27,000 sq ft.

No 85 South Mall was built by JCD on an assembled 0.33 acre site among period buildings

It’s understood that changes in work practices, including work from home, allowed the legal firm to reduce the space it needs by one-third, from 27,000 sq ft to 18,000 sq ft at South Mall, with an emphasis on open-plan offices with private booths and meeting rooms.

RDJ’s move from Irish Life-owned City Gate is expected to complete in the latter half of this year and sources say its staff were briefed on the move last week.

It’s believed that the lease deal with tenants Forcepoint (No 85 is still listed on its website as its Cork base) is to be signed off within days. However, RDJ managing partner Jamie Olden would only comment this week that “with a forthcoming lease break on our premises at City Gate, we are in active negotiations on a move back into the city centre”. Some 300,000 sq ft of offices were developed at Mahon’s City Gate by JCD Group, which sold 85,000 sq ft to occupiers Dell, and then did a c €40m investment sale of 217,000 sq ft to Irish Life. At the time of construction in 2012, City Gate was the only office development built during that “slump”. JCD is continuing to develop close by, at City Gate Plaza, having delivered a building for Logitech last year.

The significant deal sees RDJ having the JCD Group as its new landlords once again (whom it first dealt with over 10 years ago), at rents likely to be in the region of in the region of €30-€35/sq ft, above the c €25/sq ft it would have been paying in City Gate.

The legal firm’s employees will also adapt to having far fewer car parking spaces than they had at City Gate where there was extensive basement parking in the mixed-use Mahon development: there, furniture retailer DFS has the ground floor of the main block being vacated by RDJ. Sources say RDJ was approached by an agent acting for Forcepoint to take over its lease, and the timing with break option was fortuitous.

Meanwhile, in a case of revolving doors, RDJ’s move to South Mall comes just as long-time occupier, Savills, prepares to leave, after about half a century under various names, including as “Hamilton Osborne King”, “CB HOK”, “Osborne King and Megran”, and others over the decades.

Penrose House is 199 years old, and will host Savills in a rear portion with a startling A BER rating for ESG credentials.

Savills is relocating to Cork’s expanding new office heartland along the quays, opting to take up to 4,000 sq ft of newly upgraded, A-rated office space in a building which, remarkably, marks a 200th anniversary next year.

It is relocating 30 employees to Penrose House, part of the fully let Penrose Dock scheme by JCD Group next to Horgan’s Quay, Kent Train Station and the mixed HQ development on Cork’s north quays, anchored by Apple.

Savills director Peter O’Meara said it was important for it to occupy an A-rated building, and it couldn’t find the size it needed on the South Mall, where it has had three floors at the mid-terrace No 11, and it also briefly occupied No 12 South Mall for several years.

“We’re not leaving the central business district (CBD), however, the fact is the CBD has expanded from the South Mall and now includes both the north and south docks where there are thousands of employees and major professional firms such as Grant Thornton at Penrose One,” he commented.

Penrose House, Penrose Quay, with glimpses of the HQ development (home to Apple, among others) on Horgans Quay behind.

The move from No 11, owned by a private landlord, is expected to take place very shortly, with architects Wilsons responsible for the future-proofing and high energy rating retrofit of the historic Penrose House, once home to the Cork Steam Packet Company.

A spokesperson for JCD Group said: “Penrose House has undergone extensive refurbishment which has included the complete reimagination of the northern section of the building from single story warehouse use to a state-of-the-art third-generation office. The works included a new mezzanine floor, a glazed lift serving each floor, as well as the retention and refurbishment of the original roof rafters. This helped to create a unique office which combines the building’s character with the functionality of a 21st-century office environment.

“Turning 200 years old next year, Penrose House has also been upgraded to a BER ‘A’,” he added.

The retained limestone-fronted Penrose House forms a key part of the Penrose Dock development, now fully leased with 30 companies employing almost 2,000 people on the north quays.