Quinlan Private has outdone professional services firm BDO Simpson Xavier for a €200 million office block project in central Dublin with Treasury Holdings, the vehicle controlled by John Ronan and Richard Barrett. Arthur Beesley, Senior Business Correspondent, reports

Treasury had agreed financial terms last year with a syndicate of BDO private clients to back its development of the Montevetro scheme in Barrow Street, next to the Dart station at Grand Canal Dock.

But Quinlan Private, run by financier Derek Quinlan, offered better terms in recent weeks, prompting Treasury to scrap its deal with BDO. Treasury is understood to have cited changes in "market conditions" when making that decision.

"We had agreed something with Treasury in relation to prefunding the building. Shortly after Christmas they sought to renegotiate the transaction," said Bill Ledwith, BDO's partner in charge of real estate.

An alternative proposal was put forward but BDO declined to participate, he said. "We decided that the terms weren't sufficiently attractive. We didn't believe under the new terms that the investment would produce an acceptable level of return for our clients."

Treasury has planning approval for the Montevetro scheme from the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, the public body responsible for the regeneration of the area.

John Bruder, chief operations officer at Treasury, said Quinlan has committed to buy 50 per cent of the property at a price to be determined by a multiple of the rents it achieves. It has also paid "a small amount of money upfront in the nature of a deposit".

The site of the 10-storey 200,000 sq ft office block sits on a 0.3-acre plot of land owned by CIÉ. While the public transport body retains the freehold of the site, Treasury has a contract to develop the scheme under a 999-year long-lease arrangement.

The project could ultimately be worth some €50 million to CIÉ, which stands to receive about 25 per cent of the rent roll from the Montevetro block. "From our point of view, this is a scheme that we reckon is going to be a landmark building in a rapidly expanding area," said Mr Bruder. Quinlan Private declined to comment on its involvement in the Montevetro scheme.