Major step forward for €1bn station plan

Date Published: 28-Nov-2008

THE €1 billion regeneration plans for Ceannt Station have taken a major step forward, with CIE drawing up a shortlist of potential developers, the Galway City Tribune has learned.

A decision on a preferred developer is expected next Spring, with a planning application expected to be lodged directly with An Bórd Pleanála next Summer.

The project — first mooted in 2005 — will see 14 acres of land stretching from Eyre Square to Lough Atalia Road entirely redeveloped.

A spokesperson for CIE told the Galway City Tribune that a “competitive dialogue process” had been entered with a number of interested parties who expressed an interest in the development.

That process finished on October 31, and a new shortlist has been drawn up. Those on the shortlist have now been invited to tender for the project within the next few months. “It will be a few months before a preferred tender is decided, and we are keen to move things as fast as possible, but it is hard to know the timelines involved yet,” the spokesperson said.

The initial ‘masterplan’ for the site includes a massive 50,000 square metre retail, office and hotel development, as well as around 600 apartments. However, it is understood that during…