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Irish Examiner
12-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Waterford's Glassworks 'first commercial property to be developed in city in over 20 years'
This week's launch of a flagship office building on the Kilbarry Waterford City site of the legendary crystal plant is a 'historic but important moment in the history of the Glassworks site and the first commercial property to be developed in Waterford in over 20 years'. That's according to letting agents Cushman & Wakefield of the €43m Building One, the advance offer at a proposed €130m, 37-acre enterprise and innovation campus linking industry with South East Technological University (SETU) academic and research facilities. 'Building One', the initial 80,000 sq ft flagship office building of the Glassworks University Enterprise Quarter, is expected to open by Q3 2025 Space at the 80,000sq ft Building One, with floor plates of 17,000sq ft and planned to run free of fossil fuels, is expected to come on stream from Q3 2025 at rents of €32.50psf, with scope for 800 employees. The larger enterprise and innovation campus will accommodate up to 6,000 employees. At its peak in the 1980s, Waterford Crystal employed up to 3,000. The crystal works finally ceased production in 2009, after 62 years, while the undeveloped site since continued to have an enormous significance for the South East region. Crystal clear: entrance foyer of 'Building One' Part of the ambitious Glassworks campus masterplan — to include a 580-bed student accommodation element on an adjacent site — the building is in a pivotal location beside SETU, the IDA business & technology park and the IDA industrial park. Building One will be Waterford's first purpose-built, BER A3-rated office building, meeting LEED Gold and WiredScore Gold standards. Now under advanced construction, Building One is being developed in a joint venture between the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) and Frisby, the second-generation family Waterford-based developers. Cushman & Wakefield are agents for the joint venture scheme, which includes core partner SETU. As a link to the site's legendary crystal manufacturing legacy, Building One incorporates the former Waterford Crystal showrooms, remodelled as offices, with two dedicated ground-floor access points plus strong profile onto the Cork Rd. 'ISIF's commitment to Building One is an example of its double bottom line mandate at work, investing on a commercial basis in a manner designed to support economic activity and employment in the State,' said ISIF director, Nick Ashmore. Further purpose-built buildings allow for enterprise, research, and students 'meeting the same stringent sustainability standards as Building One,' it was stated at this week's formal launch. Building One's flexible floor plates range from 1,400sq ft to 17,000sq ft, with double-height entrance lobby, two lifts, parking, EV charging points, concierge service, cycle storage, and shower facilities, along with landscaped public spaces including seating. The development team say that elements of the new education and enterprise-led development pick up reference points from university enterprise quarters such as the University of Nottingham's Innovation Park and the Cortex innovation district in St Louis, Missouri. The Glassworks launch is 'a defining moment for the region and Ireland as a whole,' said SETU president Veronica Campbell. 'Glassworks will play a pivotal role in Ireland's knowledge economy where students, startups, and researchers can collaborate, test ideas, and create the next generation of ground-breaking products, technologies, and businesses,' she said. Building One is being let by Peter O'Flynn and Siobhán Young of Cushman & Wakefield. DETAILS: Cushman & Wakefield 021 4275454
Irish Independent
06-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
ISIF stumps up €160m for climate investment funds
ISIF, which operates as part of the National Treasure Management Agency, is making the new investments via three funds. It has invested €28m in the AP Ventures Fund III, which is focused on hydrogen and carbon capture technology. It's run by London-based AP Ventures, whose funds have invested in almost 30 firms around the world. The AP Ventures Fund III targets investments that address constraints in the low-carbon value chain, such as generation, transport, storage and end-use applications. It also focuses on companies that advance the use of hydrogen and sustainable fuels as solutions to decarbonise industry and mobility. ISIF has also made a €75m investment in the HitecVision New Energy Fund 2. Its investment objective is to contribute to climate change mitigation by investing in portfolio companies with the potential to contribute to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions and, or, increasing renewable energy capacity and production. The fund is managed by Norway-based HitecVision. A €58m investment has been made by ISIF in the L&G NTR Clean Power (Europe) Fund. Last month, Legal & General and Ireland-based NTR said they have now secured commitments of more than €600m for the fund. The money has been sourced from 13 institutional investors. It invests in the development, construction and operation of wind, solar and energy storage assets, aiming to offer exposure to a diversified portfolio of proven technologies across a number of European countries and supporting Europe's decarbonisation and energy security agendas. The fund is a partnership between Legal & General and Irish firm NTR, whose chief executive is Rosheen McGuckian. To date, the fund has successfully invested about €385m in 11 assets – six of which are fully operational – across six European countries. Earlier this year, the fund bought a 211MW ready-to-build solar and battery energy storage system portfolio in Co Louth. 'We recently doubled our commitment to climate investments to €2bn, to demonstrate the importance ISIF attaches to getting behind climate action,' said Nick Ashmore, director of ISIF. 'ISIF is backing funds and projects that will make a difference in supporting Ireland's climate goals.'
