NAAS, 14 June 2001: by Trish Whelan & Brian Byrne. 5pm UPDATE - More Detail on 11.55am story. Naas UDC councillors have agreed to sell an asset with an estimated £1.5 million value to Newbridge-based developer Tom Treacy for a figure believed to be considerably less than that valuation. KNN has learned that the suggested sale price to Mr Treacy is somewhere between £500,000 and £800,000, although no confirmation of the actual figure has been available from the UDC office today.
The council’s Sallins Road car park is scheduled to be part of the site of a retail/office development with a multi-storey car park, under an agreement made with Mr Treacy last year.
The council agreed to sell their car park as part of a planning application negotiation with Mr Treacy, but no price was agreed with the developer at the time. KNN understands that during a stormy ‘in committee’ meeting of the UDC late on Tuesday night, councillors voted in principle by majority to agree to the deal. But a vote in a public session will be required to confirm the decision. (Tuesday's discussion took place at the end of the normal meeting, without advance notice to at least some councillors.)
It is also understood that the developer would eight years in which to pay the money if the suggested deal goes through.
During the meeting, concern was expressed that if the UDC didn't come to a quick agreement with Mr Treacy, he might 'walk away' from the building of the multi-storey car park and simply develop the rest of his site, which includes the property formerly occupied by Joe Mallon Motors.
And in an effective ‘letting off the hook’ of the developer in a key planning condition, the UDC also proposes to allow him the use of its recently-purchased Hederman’s Yard (below) as an alternative car park which Mr Treacy is supposed to provide during the construction of his multi-storey facility.
Mr Treacy is believed to have recently told the council that the Health and Safety Agency ‘would not allow him’ to provide a temporary car park on the building site.
In Tuesday night's discussion it was originally suggested that no charge would be made on the developer for the yard, for which the UDC paid £3 million, and which will cost £655,000 to convert, according to figures issued by the UDC's engineering department. But eventually it was agreed that he would be asked for £25,000 towards that cost.
KNN also understands that Mr Treacy will retain the parking revenues from the Hederman’s Yard site for the duration of its use by him.
The yard was purchased by the council for an ‘overflow’ car park for Naas, because the already-stretched parking facilities will be even further restricted with the closure of the Sallins Road facility and of the Corban’s Lane car park when the agreed sale of that property to a private developer goes through.
©2001trishwhelanbrianbyrne/knn