Development Sites: The State is taking a novel approach to developing two sites on opposite sides of Thomas Street with a total area of 5.6 acres, writes Jack Fagan
The State is to bring in private developers to complete the property development programme for the Digital Hub in the Liberties area of Dublin.
Plans provide for a mixed-use development of around 60,000sq m (650,000sq ft) which will include offices, digital media space, apartments, retail facilities and public spaces in both new and refurbished buildings. It will have an end value of between €250-€300 million.
The Digital Hub Development Agency (DHDA) and the Office of Public Works is today inviting tenders for the development of two sites on opposite sides of Thomas Street with a total area of 5.6 acres.
Agent Finnegan Menton has been appointed to handle the tenders for the two sites which are likely to go to different developers.
The Government has already spent about €70 million developing two of the nine acres targeted for the flagship facility.
To date, 50 companies are based at the Digital Hub employing 400 people and there is a shortage of space for firms wishing to move in.
However, the Digital Hub has had its share of setbacks. Earlier this year the Government closed MediaLab Europe, a research laboratory on the site. In March last a competition to appoint a developer was terminated when negotiations with preferred bidder Manor Park Homes collapsed.
To move on with the scheme, DHDA has come up with a novel approach to developing the two sites. Instead of seeking the highest cash price for the land, it is inviting developers to build it office space in part payment, thus reducing the cash element. At least 13,000sq m (139,931sq ft) of offices will be returned to the state agency with a value of about €45 million.
Nicholas Corson of Finnegan Menton says this arrangement will undoubtedly appeal to many experienced developers.
The agency has set a minimum requirement of 6,000sq m (64,583sq ft) of offices and at least €2.5 million for the 2.5-acre Crane Street site which has extensive frontages on to Thomas Street, Crane Street and Rainsford Street.
The site includes a number of buildings suitable for conversion and refurbishment, including a former Guinness brewing building known as "Vat House no 7". There is also an open area suitable for apartment blocks.
The DHDA has also stipulated that it should be handed back at least 7,000sq m (75,347sq ft) of offices on the second site, the Windmill site, as well as a minimum of €2.5 million. This lot has 3.1 acres and is located on the north side of Thomas Street, extending down Watling Street to Bonham Street.
At its nearest point, it is just 100 metres from the Liffey.
The area also includes the landmark Windmill Tower and the Bank of Ireland branch at the junction of Thomas Street and Watling Street which is let on a long term lease to the bank at a rent of €45,000 per annum.
Two top architectural firms, McCullough Mulvin and O'Mahony Pike, have in consultation with the Dublin City Council provided an architectural vision of how the two sites might be developed.
The guide suggests mixed-use developments on both sites in new and refurbished buildings. It also favours heights generally of four to five storeys with a number of narrow point towers rising to between eight and 10 storeys.
Companies selected to handle the development of the two sites will be required to submit a planning application within six months. Once the agreed office accommodation is transferred to the DHDA, the remainder of the site will be transferred to allow the remaining elements of the scheme to proceed.
The Digital Hub is viewed by the Government as crucial to the rejuvenation of the Liberties area, apart altogether from its value to Ireland's high-tech economy. "This initiative will work, you can be sure of that," says Nicholas Corson.
