A plan for a €120 million development of apartments and offices near Dublin city centre has stalled because of economic uncertainty.
The project, on the former Cahill Printers site on East Wall Road, is backed by clients of stockbroker Davy and by building firm Pierse, which bought the site for €32 million last year. Davy raised €14 million from its clients, Pierse provided €2 million and the balance was made up of debt.
The deal was put together in March last year and planning permission for the development of the two-acre site was secured last September after appeals to An Bord Pleanála were withdrawn.
The plan was to demolish the Cahill Printers building and develop 177 apartments, 14 three-bed houses and 73,991 square feet of office space, a shop and a creche.
The Davy investors put up a minimum of €150,000 each and were told their loan was for a duration of five years, with a compound return of 17 per cent a year payable out of profits from the project. However, while the investors were told that construction work was due to start in January this year, no development has yet taken place.
It is understood that talks to sell the site on to a property developer failed, amid a fall-off in the prices being paid for land. A spokesman for Davy said that the firm had no comment to make on the project. Calls to Pierse were not returned.
The Cahill Printers site is about one kilometre from Dublin city centre, and is close to the Port Tunnel and the €800 million Point Village development, which will include shops, a hotel, cinema, the O2 music venue and a skyscraper.
A number of major developments are on hold because of the downturn in the property sector and the economy as a whole. Plans for the U2 Tower on the south quays in Dublin are still under discussion, although it is understood that some progress is being made.
Sunday Business Post
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