City Council sets up new Housing Development Unit to progress other three projects

Monday 9th June 2008: Two of the five PPP projects, namely Convent Lands and O’Devaney Gardens, involving McNamara and Co may go ahead as planned, Ciarán McNamara, Assistant City Manager told the Elected Members at a meeting of Dublin City Council this evening.  No new proposals have been received from McNamara and Co for the regeneration of St Michael’s Estate and Dominick Street and for which no contracts have been signed.  In relation to Infirmary Road, the proposals, received from the developer, were deemed non-compliant are therefore not acceptable to the City Council and the local authority is examining what remedies are available to it.

The City Council is putting in place a dedicated multi-disciplinary Special Housing Development Unit specifically to focus on and to progress the regeneration of St Michael’s Estate, Dominick Street and O’Devaney Gardens, including developing alternative plans as necessary.  

Convent Lands:

McNamara and Co has applied for planning permission for 179 residential units, 18 live/work units and a Civic Centre.  A decision on planning would be due one month after additional information is submitted. This is expected in the next couple of weeks.

O’Devaney Gardens:

The City Council is holding meaningful discussions with the developer on additional costs due to the increased sizes of apartments required. The City Council has set a date, two weeks hence, of Friday 20th June for these discussions to be concluded.  If agreement is reached, the City Council will allow the developer two months to apply for planning permission.

Infirmary Road:

This is an Affordable Housing Initiative and the revised proposals received from McNamara and Co materially differ from the original contract signed and hence would contravene public procurement rules. There has been no other compliant proposal put forward by the developer for the provision of the 130 affordable homes and 32 private residential units.   The proposals, received from the developer, are therefore not acceptable to the City Council and the local authority is examining what remedies are available to it.

With regard to St Michael’s Estate and Dominick Street, the developer has made no additional proposals. The City Council is setting up a Special Housing Unit to focus on and to progress these projects. 

“Our priority continues to be our tenants and local communities, and they have been foremost in all our discussions”, said Ciaran McNamara.  “Some progress has been made with the developer since the last Council meeting, particularly in relation to Convent Lands and O’Devaney Gardens.  We are mindful that our tenants cannot be left in limbo. We have to make what decisions we can in the coming weeks. This situation cannot be allowed to drag on indefinitely.  The new Special Housing Development Unit we are setting up in the City Council will focus on the projects that do not go ahead with the PPP developer.  We will continue to liaise with the Regeneration Boards and our tenants so they are kept informed of progress on all these projects”.

ENDS