Redevelopment of Finglas village seemed to be on the cards for many years. Many will ponder on whether Finglas has now missed the bus

THE FINGLAS Village Centre in Dublin 11, bought by three high-profile investors in 2003 with the intention of turning it into a big money spinner, is back on the market at a fraction of its original value because of its rundown image and high vacancy rates.

The complex was bought for about € 11 million by Marumba Properties, a holding company controlled for Bernard McNamara, David Courtney and Bernard Doyle, who planned to reinvigorate the village centre by redeveloping and enlarging the retail and office buildings, adding a multistorey car park and a seven-storey apartment block.

None of the ambitious plans were embarked on, possibly because the three businessmen involved had bigger fish to fry as the property bubble grew.

One or all of them had an involvement with the Superquinn group, Champion Sports, the Shelbourne Hotel, the Burlington, the Montrose, Tara Towers Hotel, Elm Park offices and apartments, Grand Mill Quay on Barrow Street, the Irish Glass Bottle site at Ringsend and the Minster Court office investment in London.

Not surprisingly, the Finglas centre did not figure on the list of priorities.

Now, nine years later, David Carson of Deloitte and Touche, appointed receiver by Barclays, has called time on the project and instructed CBRE’s Colm Luddy to offer the complex for sale on a private treaty basis.

The value this time around is likely to be in the region of € 4 million.

Marumba’s statement of affairs, lodged in the Companies Registration Office two years ago, showed that its liabilities outstripped assets by just over €10 million.

When Marumba Properties acquired the 40 retail units, two office buildings, library and art studio and 135 surface car-parking spaces, the rent roll was €1.2 million and was set to rise to €1.32 million when a number of rent reviews were completed and vacant units were let.

CBRE say that while the contracted rent is now over €1 million, it estimated that the level of rent collectable at this stage is in the order of €644,000, including an estimated €54,000 from the surface car park.

The selling agent says that in the present difficult market conditions many tenants had provided evidence of falling trade and inability to meet contracted rents and had been granted temporary rent abatements.

Other tenants may not be in a position to trade out of the difficult market and a new owner of the village centre may take some of these units back on a rolling basis.

CBRE says that because of the current vacancy rate there was a “substantial shortfall” in service charges and a proportion of the rates – almost €300,000 – was the responsibility of the landlord.

The largest vacant unit in the complex, an office block extending to 2,090sq m (22,500sq ft), is “not fit for occupation”, according to the selling agent, and there may be scope to have the block de-rated.

The remaining building, which brings the overall floor area to more than 9,290sq m (100,000sq ft), has also been poorly maintained and will eventually have to be redeveloped.

Planning permission was granted in 2004 but has since run out for a mixed-use development on the site including 35 retail units, 160 apartments, multi-storey car park, a creche and library.

The redevelopment of Finglas village seemed to be on the cards for many years but after 14 years of ownership by two development companies, first by the Galway-based Cunningham Group and later by McNamara and his colleagues, many will obviously ponder on whether Finglas has missed the bus.

In the meantime, Bovale Developments has opened a substantial new shopping centre close by at Charlestown – a cinema complex is also about to be built there – while on the opposite side of Finglas village, Tesco has established one of its largest outlets in the Dublin suburbs at Clearwater.

And if that is not enough competition in the Finglas area, Superquinn is already trading in the old town centre while the German discounters, Aldi and Lidl, are also operating three highly successful stores in the same general area.