Amazon in talks for new Dublin office even as virus hits

Amazon.com Inc. is in talks to rent an office block in Dublin with space for about 750 workers, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The online retail giant is in negotiations to lease the 2 Burlington Plaza office block in central Dublin, said the person who asked not to be identified as the information is private.

The 75,000 square foot (6,967 square meters) building is currently occupied by Bank of Ireland Group Plc.

Amazon does not comment on rumors or speculation, a company spokesman said by email.

Should Amazon go ahead with the deal, which is not yet certain, it may help assuage concerns about the impact of the coronovirus crisis on Dublin’s real estate market, which is in part underpinned by U.S. firms.

Demand for office space in the city fell 21 per cent in the first quarter of the year compared to the last three months of 2019, according to CBRE Inc.

Twitter Inc. will allow employees to work from home permanently, while Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit do not expect most staff to return to the office until 2021.

All three have offices in Dublin.

Amazon employed about 2,500 people in Ireland at the end of 2018, according to the most recent accounts available for its Irish business, and said it would hire 1,000 more people in June 2018.

The company already has offices nearby in the Burlington Plaza complex, and is in the process of setting up its first fulfillment center in Ireland on the outskirts of the city.