Blue chip multinationals book space in Cork’s HQ2

HQ2, directly downriver from HQ1, has two blue chip tenants lined up ahead of its completion next year, and is either in legals or negotiations on pre-letting 115,000 sq ft of the 128,000 sq ft office block on Horgan's Quay. Picture: Larry Cummins 

Two leading multinationals have committed to taking space at HQ2, the only new office scheme of scale currently being delivered in Cork city centre — and it’s shaping up to be fully pre-let ahead of completion next year.

The two companies — understood to have links to the biopharma and financial services sectors — have each taken a 10-year lease at Horgan’s Quay 2, an imposing new office block next to Kent Station and overlooking the River Lee.

Clarendon Properties director of development Ronan Downing confirmed to the Irish Examiner that the bulk of the new office space is either pre-let, in legals, or under negotiation.

The sides of HQ1 and HQ2 as seen from the nearby Dean Hotel on Horgan's Quay. Picture: Larry Cummins

“Out of a total of 128,000sq ft, 115,000sq ft is either let, or in legals or we are in negotiations. The deal is done on the top two floors which, between them, account for approximately 35,000sq ft.

“We are in legals on the fourth and fifth floors, around 41,000sq ft, and the second and third floors are under negotiation.”

The vote of confidence in the prime office development — a joint venture between Clarendon Properties and builder Bam, under the banner of HQ Developments — follows global tech firm Qualcomm Technologies taking the top three floors at adjoining Horgan’s Quay 1 (HQ1) last year, in the largest office deal in the city in 2025.

The latest office block on Horgan's Quay, HQ2. Picture: Larry Cummins

Qualcomm’s move to HQ1 followed the decanting of Apple staff to the tech giant’s newly-expanded Hollyhill campus (21,600sq m of additional office accommodation), which officially opened last February.

Mr Downing confirmed that rents at HQ2 will be “in the late €40s per square foot” which equates to a ballpark of €840,000 in annual rent for each floor. In 2021, at the time of Apple’s arrival to HQ1, quoted rent levels were €32psf. Mr Downing said the rise in rent is influenced by factors including inflation and demand for prime office space, which is running ahead of supply.

“The office market has been flat since covid, and rising rents are indicative of the fact that there is so much demand now,” he said.

In their market outlook report published in January, commercial agents CBRE noted that prime modern office space availability was “shrinking” in Cork and that headline rents were “expected to push beyond €40psf in 2026 as demand consolidates around best-in-class space”.

HQ2 is the only major modern Grade-A office space currently being completed in the city centre. Other Grade A stock such as nearby Penrose Dock, by John Cleary Developments (JCD) is fully let. JCD has also invested €5m upgrading a substantial office block on Half Moon St which it acquired in a €30m off-market deal earlier this year. Previously occupied by Apple, the 115,000sq ft O’Callaghan Properties-built premises, with 54,000sq ft of office space, is being overhauled to meet market demand for properties that offer strong sustainability credentials and high-quality workplace accommodation. US fintech firm Empyrean Solutions, previously based in Penrose Quay, is relocating there. The company, which began operations in Cork in 2018, added 20 employees to the payroll in the 16 months to April this year, bringing the headcount to 56, and plans to hire at least another 20 by year’s end.

JCD has remained tight-lipped on whether other tenants have been secured for the Half Moon St building. JCD also has significant office assets in Mahon’s City Gate, where it’s rumoured that a major US healthcare-services company is headed, to a new 120,000sq ft building near Logitech.

Other Grade A stock in the city such as the OCP-developed Navigation Square 1 (NSQ1) and Navigation Square 2 (NSQ2) is fully let, while permission is in place for two additional blocks.

The new apartments on Horgan's Quay Picture: Larry Cummins

The appetite for space at HQ2 is welcome news for a project that stalled when covid arrived. At the time, Mr Downing said covid forced them to “sit on their hands”.

While work on the second office block remained stalled for several years, work went ahead in 2024 on a €140m
302-bed apartment scheme (HQ3) with the backing of the Land Development Agency (LDA) which has said it is hopeful that the first tenants will be in by year end.

It’s the first residential scheme of scale in the city since 2008, and will add to the attractiveness for employers of the six-acre Horgan’s Quay site which is one of several flagship developments marking the city’s expansion eastwards into the docklands. A second docklands residential scheme is earmarked for Kennedy Quay, in a joint venture between the LDA and OCP to build 103 apartments, with work due to get underway shortly.

New apartments on Horgan's Quay Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Development of the Horgan’s Quay site — which is on a 300-year lease from CIE — is now largely complete, with the exception of one remaining office block, HQ4.

Railway heritage buildings have been restored as part of the overall scheme, including a Carriage Shed where architects Reddy Architecture and Urbanism have taken the first floor.

Mr Downing said he expects retail interest in the ground floor once the apartments are occupied.

Some first-floor space — 19,000sq ft — remains to be let at HQ1. Mr Downing

said negotiations are taking place “but they are very preliminary”.