Ronan Group Real Estate has appointed Aidan Gavin, former head of Cushman & Wakefield Ireland, to the new post of chief investment officer with the company.

His appointment comes as RGRE is pushing ahead with a wide-ranging pipeline of projects in Dublin. These include the 6M SF Glass Bottle commercial and residential mixed-use development in Sandymount, Dublin 4, which the group is developing with Oaktree Capital and Lioncor and which topped out in July.

In October the partners secured planning permission for the first commercial real estate blocks on the site, totalling nearly 500K SF in space and ranging from five to 12 storeys in height.

The 37-acre plot, just south of the Dublin docks and close to the Aviva Stadium, is among the largest residential developments in the country, with thousands of homes due to be built in a number of phases and which will eventually include 3,800 apartments as well as a mix of office, hotel, commercial and entertainment venues. Work is currently underway on the first 884 homes in the scheme, with full planning secured for the next 500 homes.

RGRE is also developing the nearby 1.5M SF Waterfront site on the Liffey north quays, which includes the new 400K SF Citi offices; plus the 600K SF 1NWQ development with Landfair; and the €5B Bremore Port scheme in Co Meath, which RGRE is championing as a deep water facility located 15 miles from the city centre.

RGRE has argued that it would prove a better long-term alternative for Ireland to the current Dublin Port.

Gavin has 26 years’ experience in commercial property, and has spent the last 12 years as Cushman & Wakefield’s country head in Ireland, involved in corporate occupier deals such as the Salesforce and Meta headquarters, and Mastercard, plus developments including the Glass Bottle masterplan, the Heuston masterplan, Ceannt redevelopment in Galway, and Opera Square in Limerick.