Limerick improvement projects

MrJones2013

Just looking over some of the quotes on yesterdays announcement and a number of sources claim that 'The new entity – which has announced Denis Brosnan as its executive chairman – is expected to continue the work achieved so far under the Limerick 2030 plan released in 2013. Since the plan’s launch, 7,800 jobs have been created in the region, with over €1.3bn invested, putting it ahead of its initial targets'.....is this true?

Anyone have any idea where this €1.3bn has been invested and where these 7,800 jobs are?

**This is a genuine question and not a snide negative statement

rebs23

Vanquished wrote: »

The investment plans for the city centre are being funded through other revenue sources. They are not in any way dependent on property tax receipts.

Councillors foolishly decided to cut the rate last year in a move fuelled by populism and political point scoring. Any increase in funding for local services should be welcomed.

Great plans and very welcome. I presume funding will be secured from EIB/ISIF/NTMA who are all obliged to seek a commercial return on any loans/investment.
Where there is a client for a building like the Revenue for the Opera Centre, this shouldn't be a problem.
I presume with a Council controlled SPV it will be the Council that will be ultimately responsible for the debts/loans secured for these massive developments?

J Mysterio

OfTheMarsWongs wrote: »

I was waiting for the other foot to drop re all these developments... and it has! Local Property Tax to increase by 10%.

http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/home/216411/limerick-councillors-vote-to-increase-lpt-by-10.html

ffs

phog

Vanquished wrote: »

The investment plans for the city centre are being funded through other revenue sources. They are not in any way dependent on property tax receipts.

Councillors foolishly decided to cut the rate last year in a move fuelled by populism and political point scoring. .

Agree

Any increase in funding for local services should be welcomed

Not too sure about that - if councillors think LPT is a licence to print money then why do they need to be innovative and/or cost effective.

Strettie11

Vanquished wrote: »

The investment plans for the city centre are being funded through other revenue sources. They are not in any way dependent on property tax receipts.

Councillors foolishly decided to cut the rate last year in a move fuelled by populism and political point scoring. Any increase in funding for local services should be welcomed.

So lets take Troy studios listed on new investment plan as an example genuine question from what source was the purchase and refit funded ? It has generally been reported that the cost is 8 million. Plus council have also purchased a building on Dominic street for 2.25 million to develop a production and digital skills academy for Troy Studios

We also seem to have a number of companies owned by Limerick County council involved in the studio,
Innovate Limerick finalised the deal
LCO Enterprise Development Limited purchased and is fitting out the studio
and now the Limerick Twenty Thirty Company is involved based on the document last week

Tefral

Strettie11 wrote: »

So lets take Troy studios listed on new investment plan as an example genuine question from what source was the purchase and refit funded ? It has generally been reported that the cost is 8 million. Plus council have also purchased a building on Dominic street for 2.25 million to develop a production and digital skills academy for Troy Studios

We also seem to have a number of companies owned by Limerick County council involved in the studio,
Innovate Limerick finalised the deal
LCO Enterprise Development Limited purchased and is fitting out the studio
and now the Limerick Twenty Thirty Company is involved based on the document last week

Limerick council bought the old dell building. Troy Studios are paying for the renovations themselves.
Source - Me. Im the Quantity Surveyor for the Builder.

Strettie11

Tefral,

Excellent thanks for this .

Do you know which Limerick Council company purchased the building Innovate, LCO or some other company?

When is the renovation due to be finished ?

So that still leaves open the question how has Limerick Council funded the purchase of the building ? Grants, Loans or Other Income ?

Cookiemunster

Strettie11 wrote: »

Tefral,

Excellent thanks for this .

Do you know which Limerick Council company purchased the building Innovate, LCO or some other company?

When is the renovation due to be finished ?

So that still leaves open the question how has Limerick Council funded the purchase of the building ? Grants, Loans or Other Income ?

They borrowed around €35m last year to progress all these projects.

Tefral

Strettie11 wrote: »

Tefral,

Excellent thanks for this .

Do you know which Limerick Council company purchased the building Innovate, LCO or some other company?

When is the renovation due to be finished ?

So that still leaves open the question how has Limerick Council funded the purchase of the building ? Grants, Loans or Other Income ?

LCC bought it.

Its due to be finished next week. Snagging is going on at the moment. To the best of my knowledge LCC got loans for it. They bought it from a guy called PJ Noonan for €5.5m

Troy studios are paying for the renovations themselves.

Vanquished

Planning permission has been granted for two new office buildings at the City East Plaza complex.

They are expected to accommodate a large financial services firm. An announcement is due in the near future.

dave 27

Don't suppose you have any plans for it or know who the contractor is?

dominatinMC

I remember reading somewhere that a large financial company were looking at the Hanging Gardens site but that their preference would be a location outside the city centre. Hope this isn't the same firm..

wigsa100

MrJones2013 wrote: »

Just looking over some of the quotes on yesterdays announcement and a number of sources claim that 'The new entity – which has announced Denis Brosnan as its executive chairman – is expected to continue the work achieved so far under the Limerick 2030 plan released in 2013. Since the plan’s launch, 7,800 jobs have been created in the region, with over €1.3bn invested, putting it ahead of its initial targets'.....is this true?

Anyone have any idea where this €1.3bn has been invested and where these 7,800 jobs are?

**This is a genuine question and not a snide negative statement

Utter horse**** that 7,800 jobs have been created since 2013. Complete and utter horse****. That really irritates me a hell of a lot. Misleading, inaccurate garbage.

Cookiemunster

wigsa100 wrote: »

Utter horse**** that 7,800 jobs have been created since 2013. Complete and utter horse****. That really irritates me a hell of a lot. Misleading, inaccurate garbage.

According to this article there were 23,148 on the live register in Limerick in 2010 and that's was down to 13,774 at the end of last month. While not all will have taken jobs, the likes of Uber and Northern Trust will be taking on people from outside of Limerick and overseas. It's very possible that those jobs have been created, but more than likely they were created in the region rather than the city.

Irish_rat

Vanquished wrote: »

Planning permission has been granted for two new office buildings at the City East Plaza complex.

They are expected to accommodate a large financial services firm. An announcement is due in the near future.

It's going to be fairly big so. Good news. Gotta say I really like the design of the current Northern Trust building and the next bit under construction.

A few more access roads need to be created out there, it can get fairly congested at peak times.

Iamhere

CEP Video

https://vimeo.com/182831771?ref=fb-share&1

marno21

The problem out there is that a road was cobbled together between the roundabout at Northern Trust and the Groody roundabout, the L5173 road, which has now become the main access route to Northern Trust, Castletroy and the University etc.

It has four roundabouts on it (about a 2km stretch), and queues extend back from the Northern Trust roundabout as far as Brookfield and further during peak hours (around 4-6pm usually).

The first thing that'll probably be done is the roundabout there at Northern Trust will be signalised. Traffic exiting Northern Trust/L5173 has to yield to traffic coming from town on the Ballysimon Rd, and there isn't nearly as much traffic taking the L5173 exit off said roundabout.

A dedicated L5173 to R527/N24 outbound slip would also go a long way in helping the matter, seeing as the R527/N24 approaching the motorway interchange is 2 lanes in either direction.

Vanquished

A slip lane for traffic turning left to the R527/N24 outbound is included in the plans.

The construction of the Towlerton link road from Golf Links road to Groody road is also required along with realignment of the Bloodmill/Old Singland road.

I understand that the realignment of the Bloodmill road may be progressed as a result of this decision.

Brennans Row

The finished City East Plaza development will require 1098 parking spaces.

Seems to be very much a car orientated development.

Will it be served by a bus service from the city centre?

Shame that such an office development could not have been placed in the city centre.

Mc Love

Brennans Row wrote: »

The finished City East Plaza development will require 1098 parking spaces.

Seems to be very much a car orientated development.

Will it be served by a bus service from the city centre?

Shame that such an office development could not have been placed in the city centre.

Where would you put it and where would people park. There's a lot of of pros for being in the outskirts

zulutango

Mc Love wrote:

Where would you put it and where would people park. There's a lot of of pros for being in the outskirts

The thing is we're meant to be planning developments such that people don't need cars to get to and from work. That's why the centre is a more appropriate location. People would have the best opportunity to walk, cycle or use public transport.

wigsa100

zulutango wrote: »

The thing is we're meant to be planning developments such that people don't need cars to get to and from work. That's why the centre is a more appropriate location. People would have the best opportunity to walk, cycle or use public transport.

While I agree in principle, I got buses around Limerick for years before I had a car and they are horrible. I haven't been on the ones sub contracted to Dublin Coach so I assume they're fine, but there aren't bus stops right outside the door of the majority of estates in Castletroy. Given the fact that traffic isn't terribly heavy even at rush hour and that most of the suburbs are right on the edge of town, I'd imagine most people would continue to drive if there was parking available for them in town.

It's a different story to Cork or limerick where your morning commute could take up to an hour in Cork from a lot of commuter towns or nearly twice that to get to the centre of Dublin. I've often driven in to town for just before 9 from Castletroy(I work in Castletroy) and it's only a ten/fifteen minute drive even at that time. The worst build up seems to be headed towards UL from every direction around.

Give me a choice between even a twenty minute drive or standing waiting for a bus at a stop that I'll probably have to walk a decent distance to in god knows what kind of weather for god knows how long and I take the comfort of my car every time.

bazz26

The City East Plaza should have been in the city centre debate has been done to death. It has very little do with getting people out of their cars. These type of developments are just not suited to a city centre, the same way the Raheen Industrial estate would not be suited to a site in the city centre. It's the same nearly everywhere, look at City West, Cherrywood or Sandyford in Dublin, they are nowhere near Dublin city centre and for good reason too.

The City East Plaza is right next to the M7 motorway, doesn't have the same restrictions on how they design and develop the site like they may have in the city centre, and they have plenty of land for future expansion. I'm sure lower commercial rates played their part too.

Mr.H

zulutango wrote: »

The thing is we're meant to be planning developments such that people don't need cars to get to and from work. That's why the centre is a more appropriate location. People would have the best opportunity to walk, cycle or use public transport.

Thats the main issue there

As a person who both drives and regularly uses public transport I can tell you I prefer the former and HATE the latter.

I have no choice as I share a car with the better half but sometimes I could be waiting for the bus for 45 mins when the bus stop says 8 mins.......................... (it will go down to 2 then disappear and another bus is only "10 mins" behind)

Outside the Childers road shopping center going into town buses often not show up. You can tell by the live tracker that they park up in the UL and because they are running late they wait for the next run and just skip one run.

If bus drivers are allowed to act like this how can we justify people using public transport?

Sort out the public transport and people will use it. That by proxy will revive the city

zulutango

You're absolutely right. The local bus service is very poor, and always has been. There are obviously management and operation issues, but they'll say that Limerick is a very difficult city to provide a decent service in, because of the way it has sprawled out and they're not wrong.

Brennans Row

Mc Love wrote: »

Where would you put it and where would people park. There's a lot of of pros for being in the outskirts

The vicinity of Colbert Station (Rail + Bus) and the Peoples Park would have been an ideal location.

phog

zulutango wrote: »

The thing is we're meant to be planning developments such that people don't need cars to get to and from work. That's why the centre is a more appropriate location. People would have the best opportunity to walk, cycle or use public transport.

Who's we?

zulutango

phog wrote:

Who's we?

Society

pigtown

bazz26 wrote: »

The City East Plaza should have been in the city centre debate has been done to death. It has very little do with getting people out of their cars. These type of developments are just not suited to a city centre, the same way the Raheen Industrial estate would not be suited to a site in the city centre. It's the same nearly everywhere, look at City West, Cherrywood or Sandyford in Dublin, they are nowhere near Dublin city centre and for good reason too.

The City East Plaza is right next to the M7 motorway, doesn't have the same restrictions on how they design and develop the site like they may have in the city centre, and they have plenty of land for future expansion. I'm sure lower commercial rates played their part too.

Offices aren't suited to city centres?

bazz26

pigtown wrote: »

Offices aren't suited to city centres?

The plans for that development are not just limited to office space. As I said take City West in Dublin as an example, the fact it's not in Dublin city centre makes it appealing to a multitude of firms and businesses.