Hines to build on John Player site ‘as soon as possible’
THE US-headquartered real estate giant Hines and its Dutch partner, APG asset Management, are to press ahead with plans for the development of hundreds of homes on the site of the former John Player factory and Bailey Gibson industrial premises on Dublin’s South Circular Road.
In a statement issued to the Irish Independent last night, a spokesman for Hines Ireland said: “It is intended to commence development of the lands as soon as possible. “We look forward to engaging with the planning authorities and wider stakeholders, with a view to progressing a planning application for the site, in line with the overall regeneration plan for the wider area.”
Hines and APG assumed full ownership of the site shortly before Christmas after entering into an agreement with developer Ciaran Larkin’s company, Players Square Limited, to fund the repayment of 100pc of all liabilities due to Nama on the 10.67 acre site.
It remains unclear what involvement, if any, Mr Larkin, will have in the delivery of the project however, with neither party prepared to comment last night.
The South Circular Road site is set to be the first development to be delivered as part of Hines and APG’s plan to invest an additional €700m in apartment building in Dublin.
Coupled with the construction of 1,269 apartments which is already under way at Cherrywood in South Dublin, the investment will enable the delivery of a total of 3,000 units across the Greater Dublin Area in the coming years.
The John Player and Bailey Gibson site is widely considered to be one of the few remaining high-quality development sites in the centre of Dublin.
The original, lapsed, planning permission provided for a one million square foot mixed-use scheme comprising 754 apartments, offices, retail space, a school, two creches, a medical centre, leisure centre and swimming pool on the site.
Site is widely seen as one of the few high quality sites left in city