Business plan to put Sandyford on the map

THE launch of a €3 million business development strategy will put Sandyford Business District on the map, the Minster for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell-O’Connor declared last week.

The minister was speaking as the Business Improvement District Company (SBID) announced details of the multi-million capital investment in key improvement initiatives.

Funded by the one thousand businesses in Sandyford’s four business parks, the funds will be used to support development and enhance the district over the next five years.

Major initiatives announced on Friday include the launch of a Smart District Strategy including free public Wi-Fi for the area as well as new wayfinding Infrastructure, landscaping and environmental initiatives.

In what was declared a huge win for Sandyford, planning permission has been granted for, with construction already underway in some major projects, for over  two  million square foot of new SMART office developments in Sandyford Business District. 

 This equates to ten times the total size of Sandyford Business Park’s landmark 9-floor Beacon Hotel.

This will accommodate in the region of 10,000 employees that will increase the workforce in the business district by 40 per cent.

Imminent plans for the development of the district also include the constructionm of 600 new apartments as well as a new International Baccalaureate School for 800 students that is due to open in September 2018.

“This is a great example of what can be achieved when business communities work together for a common pur-pose,” Minister O’Connor said.

“I’ve no doubt that becoming a Business Improvement District Company will be of enormous value to Sandyford Business District.

“They are admirably proactive, investing over €3m in capital in key improvement initiatives over the next five years and providing over  two million square feet of new SMART office developments in the district.

“This will really put Sandyford Business District on the map as a premier location for both foreign direct Investment and indigenous business.

“I wish them every success with this initiative.”

Sharon Scally, Chairperson, Sandyford Business Improvement District said the area’s state-of-the-art facilities and excellent accessibility make it very attractive for both local and international business investment.

“We expect to be making some very exciting announcements very soon on new companies that will be locating their headquarters here,” she said.

The cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, Cllr Cormac Devlin added: “This new system that has been funded by the council will make the area even more attractive to businesses seeking out a SMART digital environment to locate in.

“The system broadcasts two services to local users – DLR Free WiFi and DLR Facebook Free WiFi.

“The latter service allows users to connect using their Facebook credentials and they will see the Sandyford Business District Area Facebook page as their landing page for the service.”

Sandyford  comprises four office parks including Stillorgan and Sandyford Business Parks, Central Park, South County Business Park as well as the Leopardstown Race Course.

It is home to bluechip company headquarters including Microsoft, Vodafone, Salesforce, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Beacon Hospital, SSE Airtricity and most recently, the Ardagh Group.

 Sandyford is the only business district in Ireland and the UK to include two hospitals, two four-star hotels, a racecourse, golf course, a reservoir and 1,500 residential units.