Google pay 90m for office block in Dublin

whatstherush

Was reported by Emmet Oliver on news talk, that Google paid 90 million for an office building in Dublin. Ya can say what ya like about them washing their profits through Ireland, but when they are willing to drop 90 million on a building at least they are in for the long haul.

Plus the building was owned by Treasury Holdings which is NAMA'D up the hole, so its a little off all our heads.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/commercialproperty/2011/0216/1224289924495.html

whiteonion

That price equals roughly €4400/sqm. Does sound really expensive.

ei.sdraob

whiteonion wrote: »

That price equals roughly €4400/sqm. Does sound really expensive.

dear god :eek:

for a company that doesnt actually have a good reason to be in city center...

Gumbo

im delighted they have bought this building. its probably one of the nicest buildings available in the city at present and it would be a shame to see it sitting empty.

ei.sdraob

kceire wrote: »

im delighted they have bought this building. its probably one of the nicest buildings available in the city at present and it would be a shame to see it sitting empty.

at 4400 sq m it better be paved with gold :P

CiaranC

ei.sdraob wrote: »

dear god :eek:

for a company that doesnt actually have a good reason to be in city center...

How do you mean? Why wouldnt Google want to be in the city?

Tipp Man

whiteonion wrote: »

That price equals roughly €4400/sqm. Does sound really expensive.

Hmmm I always thought you had a funny calculator


Going by the figures in the Irish Times article

Price 90m
Square footage 204,516

this gives a price per square foot of 440 per square foot (or 10 times cheaper)

PeakOutput

brilliant news just saw the building it looks great cant wait to see how they renovate the interior

edit; also they dont wash their profits through ireland, they dont ahve a shell headquarters here they have a fully operational continental headquarters

Tipp Man

It is a very nice building alright and is directly across the road from its current offices, which if rumour is correct they are also currently in the process of buying for the bust Liam Carroll (or receivers or Nama or whatever)

If both transactions go through it will give them a huge presence in Barrow Street which is a fantastic location - not quite city centre but 20 min walk from Ballsbridge and grafton street - loads of apartments very close to offices for staff and a DART stop litterly on the office door step. Good move by Google if you ask me

punchdrunk

great news! all thanks to our low corporation tax! now anyone trying to mess with these rates could you kindly fúck off somewhere else!

Bigcheeze

Tipp Man wrote: »

Hmmm I always thought you had a funny calculator


Going by the figures in the Irish Times article

Price 90m
Square footage 204,516

this gives a price per square foot of 440 per square foot (or 10 times cheaper)

Nothing wrong with his calculator.


The price seems fine to me.

ei.sdraob

CiaranC wrote: »

How do you mean? Why wouldnt Google want to be in the city?

why would google have to be in the city? it be cheaper for them and their employees if they where on the outskirts in an industrial estate with easier opportunity to expand, and more importantly easier for staff to get in an out

whiteonion

I like to think in SI units and I calculated the cost per square metre.

90.000.000 / 19.000 = 4736.84 so I made a counting error it's rougly €4700/sqm they paid for this property!

Tipp Man

Bigcheeze wrote: »

Nothing wrong with his calculator.


The price seems fine to me.

check out the price per square foot that he calculated

EDIT IGNORE THIS

ei.sdraob

@Tipman if it is 400 per sq m then its a killing

but

GOOGLE is in advanced negotiations to buy the newly built Montevetro office building at Barrow Street, Dublin 4, for a figure believed to be in the region of €90 million. The 19,000sq m (204,516sq ft) block will be used.

204,516 square foot in square meters = 19000m^2

90,000,000 / 19,000 = ~4700 per m^2 which is crazy in this day and age

Tipp Man

whiteonion wrote: »

I like to think in SI units and I calculated the cost per square metre.

90.000.000 / 19.000 = 4736.84 so I made a counting error it's rougly €4700/sqm they paid for this property!

I must apologise sincerly to you white onion

I read your price as a square foot price when you actually said square metre

My mistake

markpb

ei.sdraob wrote: »

why would google have to be in the city? it be cheaper for them and their employees if they where on the outskirts in an industrial estate with easier opportunity to expand, and more importantly easier for staff to get in an out

City centre offices are more prestigious than an industrial estate warehouse. Its not like Google are short of money and need to scrimp on accommodation. This one sits atop a dart station and not awfully far from the Green luas line. It couldn't be easier to get to and its surrounded by facilities which makes it more attractive to staff

Bluetonic

ei.sdraob wrote: »

why would google have to be in the city? it be cheaper for them and their employees if they where on the outskirts in an industrial estate with easier opportunity to expand, and more importantly easier for staff to get in an out

The majority of Google's workforce in Dublin are mid 20s to mid 30s carefree soles who have little or no responsibilities outside of work (the way Google want it). A lot of them are non-Irish due to language requirements and rent in the city center due to them not having long term plans for staying in Ireland.

By having a city center location they can attract the best staff with the desired skill set i.e. multilingual.

A city center location sitting on a DART line would generally be more desirable of a location than some out of town dive with little or no transport links which would be difficult for your staff to get to and from outside of the 9-5 (again which would not suit Google).

Regarding the cost being excessive, there is a real lack of world class corporate HQ in Dublin. They have to spend the money on something.

th3 s1aught3r

Bluetonic wrote: »

Regarding the cost being excessive, there is a real lack of world class corporate HQ in Dublin. They have to spend the money on something.

They certainly do. They have something like ten billion cash that they dont really know what to do with
Plenty of money in the aul t'internet

ei.sdraob

Bluetonic wrote: »

The majority of Google's workforce in Dublin are mid 20s to mid 30s carefree soles who have little or no responsibilities outside of work (the way Google want it). A lot of them are non-Irish due to language requirements and rent in the city center due to them not having long term plans for staying in Ireland.

Good explanation and is probably true, but as someone who had to work not too far away the this location I would not agree withit since rents anywhere close (walking/cycling distance) are expensive (and commuting on DART does not make for the most clear headed workforce in morning) neither do Google pay too well from what I heard (We work with Google and have contacts there)

Bluetonic wrote: »

Regarding the cost being excessive, there is a real lack of world class corporate HQ in Dublin. They have to spend the money on something.

As I said this decision seems like a waste which is highly unusual for Google who hate waste, so I think something else is a play here, maybe a way of sinking money as an expense to get it back by claiming corpo tax or something along these lines.

whiteonion

As I said this decision seems like a waste which is highly unusual for Google who hate waste, so I think something else is a play here, maybe a way of sinking money as an expense to get it back by claiming corpo tax or something along these lines.

An office building has a realistic life time of 50 years, surely they cannot write down this as cost of more than 2-3% per year?

I know people who owned a warehouse and for tax purposes these facilities where depreciating at 2% per year.

Anita Blow

ei.sdraob wrote: »

As I said this decision seems like a waste which is highly unusual for Google who hate waste, so I think something else is a play here, maybe a way of sinking money as an expense to get it back by claiming corpo tax or something along these lines.

or else it could be the fact that it's across the road from their existing headquarter buildings

Bluetonic

Anita Blow wrote: »

or else it could be the fact that it's across the road from their existing headquarter buildings

Yeah cause they can't afford a removal company.

Anita Blow

Bluetonic wrote: »

Yeah cause they can't afford a removal company.

After they've bought and invested in those existing buildings, what would be the point in packing up and moving outside the city, far away from your existing employees?

They're across the road from this new building so it just means employees won't have to be trekking across the city everytime there's a meeting in the other building

pegasus1

whiteonion wrote: »

An office building has a realistic life time of 50 years

what? there are plenty of offices around that are older than 50yrs..... maybe you are talking about a need for refurb every 50yrs

FoxT

"NAMA'D up the hole" ROTFLMAO!!

southsiderosie

ei.sdraob wrote: »

why would google have to be in the city? it be cheaper for them and their employees if they where on the outskirts in an industrial estate with easier opportunity to expand, and more importantly easier for staff to get in an out

I would be interested to see a breakdown of where Google's employees actually live. Anecdotally, most of my under-35 friends in Dublin who worked in the tech industry and were foreign nationals lived in the city center regardless of where they worked. People preferred to live in areas where they could walk or cycle to the shops, were used to taking public transport to work, and generally preferred a more "urban" lifestyle more along the lines of what they would find in Continental Europe.

Google made a similar decision with the location and eventual purchase of their New York offices: sure they could have put them in New Jersey and it would have been cheaper, but they know that their employees want to be where the action is (although I would guess that a lot of them live in Brooklyn).

Bullseye1

Some positive news is always welcome.

Dermo

I live on Barrow St and it seems like I'm being surrounded by Google. They've got 2 buildings on the east side of the road. 2 floors(at least) in a building on the west side of the road. And now this new building!

And they also have part of a building at the Grand Canal Road bridge. Don't know how much space in there, but the ground floor is a google bar.

Saadyst

Google confirmed they bought the building for €99.9m - http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0217/breaking27.html

listermint

Perhaps the Broadband Services to these complexes are some of the best around, this would be highly location dependant for a EU Headquarters of a technology company.

Why the hell would one move to a dingy industrial estate on the outskirts of the city. We trying to turn dublin into a technology hub for this type of industry we need to breathe life into these areas.

Great move.

Aard

I guess this is an indicator that An Bord Pleanála should have focussed on high-rise in city centres, rather than in suburban office parks.

Euroland

Aard wrote: »

I guess this is an indicator that An Bord Pleanála should have focussed on high-rise in city centres, rather than in suburban office parks.

This purchase indicates that commercial property market in Central Dublin is bottoming out and is on its way to recovery. It also indicates that Dublin needs skyscraperization.

dan_d

They're in business and creating jobs.
I think that's probably all we need to focus on with this company. That's the important part right now.

Alias G

ei.sdraob wrote: »

why would google have to be in the city? it be cheaper for them and their employees if they where on the outskirts in an industrial estate with easier opportunity to expand, and more importantly easier for staff to get in an out

A lot of google's workforce would be young twenty/thirty something continental Europeans with language skills who tend to rent in or close to the city centre.

Liam Byrne

Tipp Man wrote: »

this gives a price per square foot of 440 per square foot (or 10 times cheaper)

And a square metre is approximately 3.3ft x 3.3ft (i.e. 10 square ft) giving a price per square metre of 440x10, or the €4,400 already stated.

ei.sdraob

Alias G wrote: »

A lot of google's workforce would be young twenty/thirty something continental Europeans with language skills who tend to rent in or close to the city centre.

Chicken and egg there, they could be renting close by since they got a job in the area, not the other way around.
Like I said knowing Google there is something else at play here.

markpb

ei.sdraob wrote: »

Like I said knowing Google there is something else at play here.

Seriously? What about them spending $1.9bn in NYC? How does your conspiracy explain that?

Amhran Nua

punchdrunk wrote: »

great news! all thanks to our low corporation tax! now anyone trying to mess with these rates could you kindly fúck off somewhere else!

I'll second that emotion.

My guess is it has something to do with the way that one of the largest commercial real estate companies in the world is McDonalds. As part of their franchise agreements, the restaurant property is held by the parent company. It's a long term bet, but generally in keeping with Google's MO.

ei.sdraob

markpb wrote: »

Seriously? What about them spending $1.9bn in NYC? How does your conspiracy explain that?

That building was the center of the telecoms universe for a very long time, and is actually worth it with extra high ceilings and within the shortest possible distance to stock exchange (google going into microtrading?) as added bonus you inherit several very high profile clients. This is the most desirable collocation/networking real estate in the world

please dont compare Dublin to New york :rolleyes: those celtic tiger days are long over.

Cool Mo D

ei.sdraob wrote: »

That building was the center of the telecoms universe for a very long time, and is actually worth it with extra high ceilings and within the shortest possible distance to stock exchange (google going into microtrading?) as added bonus you inherit several very high profile clients. This is the most desirable collocation/networking real estate in the world

please dont compare Dublin to New york :rolleyes: those celtic tiger days are long over.

The building they bought in new york is not in the financial district - it's north of that, near greenwich village. So hardly the shortest possible distance to the stock exchange.

Your trying to read so many hidden motives and secrets into where google is buying is a bit odd - the simplest explanation is usually the best. Google buys a city-centre building in Dublin because it's close to their existing office, and it's much more attractive for a young, multinational workforce to be in the city centre, where the action is, rather than an anonymous industrial estate. And they have enough money that they can afford to pay for a high profile site, which is a form of marketing in itself.

CiaranC

ei.sdraob wrote: »

Chicken and egg there, they could be renting close by since they got a job in the area, not the other way around.
Like I said knowing Google there is something else at play here.

Nothing else is at play. Its beside where their existing building is. The sort of people google employs want to live and work in the city.

ardmacha

Either way it is €100m into the Irish economy to reduce Irish debt, and is very welcome. Google making such an investment is a positive thing and helpful to efforts to attract investment from other IT companies.

HxGH

I can picture now, being employed with Google...

Sounds good...

Aard

They also got away with 2m in stamp duty as opposed to almost 9m.

paddydriver

Always wondered why google need staff anyway.. and even those with different languages etc; surely if someone has a problem then why bother calling...



Just google it for an answer:pac::pac:

Anonymous1987

Blog post on the sale here. Concludes that while the sale is impressive in current market conditions, the banks (hence the taxpayer) are likely to have made a loss in NAMA's rush to dispose of assets.

Pete_Cavan

Anonymous1987 wrote: »

Blog post on the sale here. Concludes that while the sale is impressive in current market conditions, the banks (hence the taxpayer) are likely to have made a loss in NAMA's rush to dispose of assets.

So the taxpayer made a loss of €25.1m as opposed to €120m - I'd take that.

rumour

ei.sdraob wrote: »

As I said this decision seems like a waste which is highly unusual for Google who hate waste, so I think something else is a play here, maybe a way of sinking money as an expense to get it back by claiming corpo tax or something along these lines.

I'm a bit late with this but am at saturation point with the election. I think your right but rather than our corpo tax I think it's highly likely thats its related to pressure mounting in the states.

They are now an official property owner in Ireland with a headquarters. The yanks are looking at making serious changes to companies/corporations that operate post box's abroad to avoid tax.

Given thats it illogical to buy such a vast amount of space (holds approx 2000 people) with no planned public expansion and little or no prospect of return in the short to medium term the investment must have a rational explanation.

So its great news and all that but I think we are just pawns in something slightly larger.