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Marlet Property has paid €22M for a 0.87 acre development site near Jervis, far above the €14M guide price.
The Irish Times reported the deal was financed by M&G Investments, with whom Marlet signed an exclusive funding agreement in 2014.
The site, which has lain vacant for decade, was assembled by CIÉ between 1978 and 1993.
The vendors commissioned RKD Architects to do a development feasibility study assessing a number of potential uses such as hotel, office and student accomodation ahead of marketing it for sale last year.
Owned by Pat Crean, Marlet is already active in the office development space and it acquired a hotel last year near St James's Hospital in Dublin 8. In addition to this, the Abbey Street site has planning permission for a large development that includes an aparthotel.
Traditional hotel rooms as well as as aparthotel suites could be included in the development.
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With its prime location and proximity to major transport links such as Connolly, Busáras and both luas lines a hotel development would do well on the site.
In 2005, CIÉ tried to negotiate an investment deal where developers would pay €12M and develop a bus interchange on the land in exchange for the right to develop four floors of accommodation above the bus interchange.
The successful bid by Brothers Des and Liam O’Dwyer, with their Deepdrill Developments vehicle, was contested by developer Liam Carroll’s Danninger development company, which was already developing adjacent sites.
Carroll lost his case and Deepdrill later secured planning for a 10-storey over basement hotel, integrating the bus interchange.
However, the brothers’ plans ultimately never moved beyond the planning stage and the site has been vacant since.
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