The board of the Digital Hub has selected a consortium, led by Manor Park Homebuilders, as the preferred bidder to develop the €250 million flagship project.

The consortium began negotiations with the agency in charge of the State project this week on its plans to develop a seven-acre site in the Liberties area of Dublin.

Two other consortiums, Hub Developments and Pierse Contracting, have been told that they were ranked below the bid by Manor Park Homebuilders. However, the Digital Hub will not rule these consortiums out of the contest until a contract is finalised.

The Digital Hub is a State-sponsored scheme designed to attract a cluster of digital media firms into Dublin. It will also offer education opportunities to local residents and attempt to regenerate the historic Liberties area. The Government has already spent €130 million getting the project started and is seeking private investment to build the biggest portion of the development.

Manor Park Homebuilders and the builders G&T Crampton Holdings are the two biggest partners in the successful consortium.

Together they are planning to invest up to €100 million to build 500,000 sq ft of office, retail and residential space.

The developers and the Digital Hub will share in the future revenue generated from rents gathered from the site.

The commercial terms of this arrangement will be part of the contract negotiations that will now take place.

The first phase of the Digital Hub project was financed by the State and is now complete. This involved the establishment of two enterprise centres, which house 35 technology companies.

A Digital Hub spokeswoman said the project would now move on to the next phase of negotiations with the preferred bidder.

The final project agreement will be subject to the approval of the Minister for Communications and the Minister for Finance. It will be evaluated to ensure that the deal offers good value for money for the State.

Manor Park Homebuilders is one of the State's biggest residential property developers. It is currently building large developments in Drogheda and Lusk.

G&T Crampton is one of the oldest Irish building firms. The firm is 89.9 per cent owned by three members of the Crampton family: the two joint managing directors Mr George David Crampton and Mr John Philip Crampton, and Mr George Cecil Crampton.