RETAIL and leisure magnate Albert Gubay is seeking to have part of his Total Fitness site in Sandyford in south Dublin rezoned for residential development. Ranked by Forbes as the 840th-richest person in the world, the self-made businessman is best known in Ireland for setting up retail ventures including the 3 Guys supermarket chain, which was eventually bought by Tesco.
Gubay, whose mother was Irish, is seeking the rezoning for residential development of the southern part of the 27.4-acre site he owns at Blackglen Road. A submission on behalf of his company, Mardown, based in the Isle of Man, says the zoning is justified because of the changing character of the area, the land's capacity to accommodate development and the fact that there is already residential development on the lands. The site is currently zoned for open space and recreational amenities.
Born in Wales and now based in the Isle of Man, Gubay set up Total Fitness in 1995 when he was recovering from a bad back and sold the leisure chain, minus the valuable properties they sit on, for more than €150m in 2004. Last week he lost a High Court case involving former rally driver Rosemary Smith who claimed breach of a legal settlement which would have allowed her live rent-free in a studio apartment in the Total Fitness centre in Sandyford.
Gubay set up the Kwik Save chain of supermarkets in Britain and was also involved in retail in New Zealand and the US.
Sunday Tribune
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