Microsoft seeks to buy another 20 acres

Microsoft seeks to buy another 20 acres

By Maurice Garvey

MICROSOFT wants to purchase a further 20.3 acres of land adjacent to their existing campus in Grange Castle Business Park to meet ongoing demands at the data centre and cloud computing sector.

The proposed disposal of 20.3 acres at Grange Castle Business Park to Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited was on the agenda at the recent South Dublin County Council meeting.

Grange Castle business pk 1 liz compressor

Grange Castle Business Park

SDCC Chief Executive Officer Daniel McLoughlin recommended the disposal of the land to Microsoft.

The proposals are subject to a number of conditions, including a fee of €600,000 per acre, paid to the council – which would represent over €12m in fees to the council.

Further conditions include the payment of 10 per cent of the purchase price upon signing an agreement for the site – which will be refunded in the event that the development fails to receive planning permission.

Up to 80 per cent of the purchase price is to be paid by Microsoft on or before the signed/sealed agreement for lease is returned.

The conditions also include a subsequent planning application, to include the provision of an office building to support a minimum staff of 120 people, in addition to the proposed data centre provision.

Upon the conditions being met, the lease shall be for a term of 999 years, subject to a rent of €500 per annum, which will be reviewed at the end of every five years.

In 2007, the council agreed to a disposal of 18.9 acres at Grange Castle Business Park to Microsoft.

Since then, a further 119.23 acres or thereabouts has been disposed of or sold to Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited.

Microsoft officially opened their Grange Castle operations in September, 2009.

The lands being disposed of form part of lands acquired by the council from Robert

Beattie in 2002, and Martin McNulty in 2016 for the future development of the business park.

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