City carpark with €4 million price tag gets new owners

A city centre carpark – which has planning permission for a major retail, office and residential development – has been sold for an undisclosed sum after attracting significant interest from potential buyers.

Selling agents DNG Maxwell, Heaslip & Leonard are remaining tight-lipped on the selling price and the identity of the buyer of the Market Street carpark, which had a price tag of €4 million.

Alan Maxwell told the Galway City Tribune he could not disclose any information on the winning tender.

“There was a lot of interest in the site,” he added.

In the short-term, there is a four-year management agreement in place until January 2018 for the operation of the 86-space carpark, which has an annual income of €310,000 after costs.

The site – which measures around two-thirds of an acre – contains planning permission until June 2019 for an 83,000 square foot development.

The redevelopment plan includes two blocks overlooking a pedestrianised street, giving access from Market Street into Bowling Green, with a civic square at the centre of the site.

Block A ranges from four storeys in height fronting onto Market Street and a single storey onto Bowling Green. There would be retail accommodation in the basement, ground and first floors, with offices on the second and third floor, and 4 two-bed apartments on the first, second and third floors towards the Bowling Green end of the site.

Block B ranges from four storeys on Market Street to two storeys on Bowling Green, with retail space on basement, ground and first floor levels, offices on the second floor and 2 two-bed apartments and 2 three-bed apartments on the third floor.

There will also be basement parking for 25 cars with access from Bowling Green.

Developers Hugh Heskin and Pat O’Grady bought the Market Street carpark in 2004 for around €10m, with plans for the major city centre regeneration scheme.

They said they were unable to secure finance when permission was initially granted in May 2009, but expected it could be completed by late 2018, but subsequently placed the site on the market last September.

The developers had said: “Funding for the project could not be sourced to commence the development during the duration of the permission due to the prevailing economic conditions and associated lending restrictions.

“The funding issue arose primarily as a result of the extremely poor state of the commercial sector during the financial crisis since 2008.

“The proposal will set back both blocks from the existing boundary wall onto Bowling Green and includes the widening of footpaths and improved surface treatment along this frontage,” the application reads.

In 2006, the Planning Appeals Board overturned a City Council decision and rejected plans for a €10million multi-storey carpark, residential and retail development on the site.

That application was for 60 residential units, a 332sqm retail unit and multi-storey carpark with 158 spaces. The plans ranged from two storeys on Bowling Green to five storeys over-basement onto Market Street.