Ex-Anglo Irish director confident of leasing Galway site

The owner of a major retail and office building that is lying empty at the Fairgreen – a former director of the disgraced Anglo Irish Bank – is still confident an anchor tenant can be attracted.

Tom Browne, the former Head of Irish Lending at Anglo, said a permanent occupier will be found now that the recession has “bottomed out”.

His ‘Ballybrit Partnership’ investment vehicle has sought an Extension of Duration for a facelift to the ‘Castlehope’ development adjacent to the Radisson Blu hotel.

Planning permission is set to expire on a proposal to construct a new lobby and ground floor circulation area, a ‘break-out’ extension to the front and new doors to the ground floor retail area.

However, Mr Browne wants permission extended until 2019.

“Funding for the project could not be sourced to commence the development during the duration of the [original] permission due to the prevailing economic conditions and associated lending restrictions.

“The funding issue arose primarily as a function of the lack of a permanent occupier of the relevant commercial floor space and the poor state of the commercial sector during the financial crisis since 2008.

“However, having regard to the ‘bottoming out’ of the recession, [Mr Browne] is confident that the proposed development, which constitutes the provision of high quality alterations to an existing development, will be attractive to the market and achieve the required funding to implement the development in the coming years,” the application reads.

Mr Browne left Anglo in 2008 on a basic salary of €455,000 with an €800,000 bonus.

The second member of the Ballybrit Partnership is John Hughes, a former Head of Business Banking with AIB in Eyre Square.

It is understood the duo purchased the Castlehope building – which stretches from beside the WebWorks building to the Radisson Blu Hotel and includes Exchange House and the Revenue’s ‘Geata na Cathrach’ premises – in 2008.

The site was originally owned and developed by Castlehope Ltd, which was owned by Bernard McNamara, Christ Hirst and Jerry O’Reilly.