DUBLIN Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) chief executive Paul Maloney is adamant its decision to grant developer Liam Carroll permission for an office development in the north docklands, even though it went against the authority's master plan, was not a compensatory deal.

"There are absolutely no compensation issues," he said last week at the launch of the authority's annual report.

Industry sources had suggested the deal was done because Carroll had planning permission for a tower next to the planned U2 tower in the docklands on the other side of the Liffey. The authority does not want that building developed and when the planning permission granted by Dublin City Council (DCC) lapsed it meant the developer could no longer build the tower.

Carroll benefits

Eyebrows were raised when it emerged during a case by developer Seán Dunne against the DDDA and Carroll that the authority was to "implement the necessary procedures" to allow Carroll to build higher buildings than were provided for in the master plan.

Maloney does not know how much Dunne's legal action will cost the DDDA.

On top of this controversy, Maloney now expects an announcement by mid-summer on the future of the contentious U2 tower. The tower is being redesigned by preferred bidder Geranger, which is made up of Paddy McKillen, Ballymore Properties and U2 itself. Bids for the tower were submitted at the peak of the market and residential land values have fallen significantly since then.

Maloney said the housing downturn meant a lot of commercial schemes in Dublin are going ahead, "but residential applications have come to a halt. We have had very few applications for that this year".

The housing downturn could have serious implications for the authority's plan for the redevelopment of Poolbeg, a point Maloney concedes, but he says he hopes the market will be back in 2010. Development there will be predominantly residential, he said. However, in the interim it will have a major impact on the council's social and affordable housing numbers.

"In 2008 it won't have an impact but from 2008 to 2010 there will be very few residential developments so it will have a significant impact," he said.

Chq's woes

Maloney said he expects that the struggling Chq retail complex will be fully let on the upper floors by the end of the year and confirmed that the Terence Conran restaurants will not now happen.

"We started trading at the end of last year and the first few months have been difficult," he said. "There's a very significant retail challenge at the present."

Maloney said the centre was debt-free, sustainable and "we're quite happy with its rent roll".

He said creating a new shopping centre east of Grafton Street takes time.

"We're going to market it and increase consciousness of it. There are 40,000 people working within walking distance of the centre," he said.

The problem for Maloney is that time is the one thing it does not have. Point Village, a huge shopping centre to be anchored by Dunnes Stores, is under construction and will be easily accessible for those working in the docklands. In addition, Treasury Holdings is planning a major retail centre at Spencer Dock. These offerings are likely to cause significant pressures on Chq and could lead to further struggles for the centre.

The authority announced last week that it is to introduce a new planning scheme in the North Lotts area. The Liffey Island scheme, as it is known, will involve the authority driving pylons into the river and new shops and galleries being developed there. To the rear a canal will be excavated at developers' expense and they will also have to hand over land to the authority for a public park. In return they will be allowed to develop higher buildings.

Maloney is also planning a 30,000 square-foot development of artists' studios and offices for arts organisations in the area. The main focus, however, will be on the Irish Glass Bottlers' site and the Poolbeg peninsula.

"Poolbeg has a history of contentious planning with the various owners," he said.

To date the authority has invested €36m in the site, €9m of which is being spent on remediation of the site after asbestos was discovered there.

Maloney said that prior to bidding for the site the authority approached other potential bidders and were also approached by others. In the end it opted for a joint venture with McNamara and Quinlan. He said the priority for the authority is not profit but to lead the development.

Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show that on 3 October 2006, the executive board of the DDDA met in San Sebastian in Spain and decided to open negotiations with "the potential tender partner with a view to formulating a joint bid" for the Irish Glass Bottlers site. The authority had been "satisfied that the proposed involvement of the authority in the tender process and the future development of the site would not breach public procurement rules" and on that basis the board agreed the executive should begin the negotiations that would result in a joint bid.

The decision followed the distribution on the previous day of a paper on the development site at Poolbeg, which it would eventually acquire for more than €400m.

"The chief executive briefed the board on the confidential negotiations which had been undertaken with a developer who had indicated an intention to bid for the site. The developer confirmed that he would welcome the involvement of the authority jointly in tender," the minutes state.

Those present at the meeting included chairman Lar Bradshaw and Seán FitzPatrick, both of whom are involved in Anglo Irish Bank which later agreed to bankroll the purchase of the site.

On 20 February 2007, Maloney wrote to then environment minister Dick Roche asking for the DDDA's Section 25 planning powers to be extended to Poolbeg, saying it was an "urgent requirement".

He also said that the site complied with all of the criteria for Section 25 planning powers to be granted. These include under-utilisation; significant barriers to investment or redevelopment such as contamination or lack of infrastructure; isolation from immediate interests such as neighbouring residential development; the need to intervene to achieve the objectives of the master plan; and finally, to achieve integrated development in an area of different state ownerships.

High-rise plan

A planning report was submitted along with Maloney's letter and stated that "in order to maximise city population growth, there should, in principle, be no upper limit on the number of dwellings that may be provided in theory on such sites".

Subsequently, the DDDA was given the go-ahead to master plan the bottlers site and 75 other acres in the immediate vicinity.

The authority refused to release a paper to the board from 3 October 2006 concerning the decision by the DDDA to bid for the site because it "contains information of a commercially sensitive nature". In addition, it refused to release certain files related to its decision to bring the area under the planning control of the DDDA because it would "cause a substantial and unreasonable interference with or disruption of the other work of the public body".