HP Puts Manufacturing Site Up For Sale

HP Inc will sell off its 79 hectare (195 acre) Liffey Park Technology Campus south-west of Dublin, in Ireland.

Selling agents CBRE describe the campus as a “world class technology and manufacturing complex.” Property experts predict it will sell for more than US$55 million, making it one of the largest sales of an industrial facility.

The campus was developed in Leixlip, Co Kildare in the mid-1990s by Hewlett Packard with plans for an ink cartridge assembly plant that employed over 2,000 people. Since HP split into Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) for its software business and HP Inc for personal computers and printers, the demand for ink cartridges has fallen. Earlier this year HP Inc said it was cutting 500 jobs and closing its global print business in Leixlip.

The sale of 79 hectares includes 28 hectares (70 acres) of undeveloped land. The campus itself comprises nine main buildings, six of which are dedicated to high-quality manufacturing, clean rooms, warehousing and office use while the remaining buildings have ancillary and backup uses such as energy centers and a canteen.

Currently the campus generates a gross rent of US$3.8 million a year on short to medium-term leases covering about 35 per cent of the building area.

The land is in a highly accessible location and zoned “Industrial and Warehousing” under the Kildare Development Plan 2011 – 2017.  This zoning is expected to remain in situ under the revised Kildare Development Plan 2017 – 2023.

The site is expected to draw interest from many potential investors and occupiers given the scale, quality and flexibility of the site. CBRE’s Willy Norse said: “This premier high-tech manufacturing complex represents an economic opportunity for large scale end-users to secure a commercial industrial manufacturing facility at a fraction of reinstatement value, or alternatively for investors who would seek to lease out the entire campus, thereby generating a very significant rent roll.”