McNamara in court challenge to DDDA over €412m site deal
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DEVELOPER Bernard McNamara will begin a legal action against the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) on Monday, pitting one of the State's biggest property developers against one of our most controversial semi-state bodies, and shining a bright light on what was once the most expensive property deal in Irish history.
The case will centre on a 2006 deal to buy the 24-acre Irish Glass Bottle site in the Dublin suburb of Ringsend for €412m.
Through the deal, Mr McNamara teamed up with financier Derek Quinlan and the DDDA to spend around €150m and borrow a further €295m to buy the site, which the DDDA now values at just €60m
Obligations
Mr McNamara's lawyers argue that the DDDA failed to fulfil its obligations under the agreement to jointly develop the site.
Mr McNamara, who is seeking the return of €62.5m invested by a company he heads called Donatex, will also argue that the DDDA failed to get planning permission for the site.
The Ailesbury Road resident and former Fianna Fail election candidate bought the stake in the Ringsend site with a €58.5m loan from Davy Stockbrokers clients at a time when he had been aggressively extending his portfolio, which included everything from the €450m Elm Park development in Dublin 4 to the €60m buyout of Champion Sports and a stake in the Superquinn chain, which he has since sold.
He is taking on the DDDA, which lost both a chief executive and chairman earlier this year, and has been unable to fill the chief executive post since it became vacant in July.
Last year, the High Court ruled that the authority had "acted outside its powers" in granting 'fast-track' permission to developer Liam Carroll to build a €200m new headquarters for Anglo Irish on the north quays.
A further finding against the DDDA could be the death knell for the organisation, which had been set up to regenerate one of the capital's poorest areas.
Environment Minister John Gormley admitted earlier this month that the DDDA's €107m debt and equity investment in the bottle site was now worth just €16m.
"We are in extraordinary times and this site was bought at the very height of the boom. We are now at the lowest end of the market," Mr Gormley told the Dail.
"I have heard from my officials and I will say that as I understand it, the value of this site has depreciated by up to 85pc. That is my information and it is accurate," he added.
Although the DDDA got a valuation report on the site from auctioneers Lisney some time ago, it has not yet published the valuation.
Mr McNamara will be represented by Kilroy Solicitors, while the DDDA will be represented by A&L Goodbody.
- Thomas Molloy
Irish Independent
