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A BUSINESSMAN WHO co-owns a strategic land bank at Dublin Airport has said that he is in talks with international venture funds who want to build a “private terminal”, as he claims the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) made only a “derisory offer”.
Ulick McEvaddy told RTÉ’s This Week radion programme that he is prepared to go to court to ensure that a private owner could build a terminal, and have access to Dublin Airport’s runways.
McEvaddy denied that he is holding the land “to ransom” against the DAA, but acknowledged that a private owner may eventually sell the land on to the state-owned company, as he believes it will ultimately become “desperate”.
He added that he was not after “crazy prices” for the land, and that primarily, he wanted the land to be used for the expansion of Dublin Airport, but that an offer from the DAA that was the same as the one they made “20 years ago” isn’t acceptable.
McEvaddy confirmed that the DAA had made an offer of €75 million, and said that he didn’t expect another offer from them.
He said that three venture funds are ahead of the Comer Brothers, out of the five bidders who are currently expressing an interest in the land.
McEvaddy said that a deal should be done on the land “probably by the end of the year”.
Kenny Jacobs, the Chief Executive of the DAA also spoke on This Week. He told the programme that in his view, McEvaddy’s land is not strategic for Dublin Airport.
He said that this piece of land “wouldn’t make the top 20″ list of strategic infrastructure projects being pursued by Dublin Airport.
“This piece of land will never be used to build a third terminal,” he said, adding that the DAA would most likely use it to build some taxiways.
Jacobs added that the DAA has commissioned two independent evaluations of the land, and that he himself has visited the site multiple times.
He added that the McEvaddys are looking for a price of €200 million.
“Good luck to them,” Jacobs said.
He added that the DAA does not intend to make another offer on the land.
Responding to McEvaddy’s claim that multiple international investment funds are interested in building a private terminal on the land, Jacobs said that, seeing as the land is in the middle of the airport’s two runways, a fund seeking to build a terminal would have called the DAA by now.
“No one has called us,” he added.
Jacobs added that he believes that any court case that would determine whether the owner of a private terminal would gain access to Dublin Airport’s runway is “years away”.
Asked whether the DAA may end up regretting not buying the land now if it ends up ultimately buying it from another owner down the line, Jacobs said “we don’t think we’ll be coming back looking for it to expand’.
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As the DAA is state owned, is there a reason why the State can’t issue a compulsory purchase order(CPO)? They did it for parts of people’s front gardens in order to construct the bus corridors.
@Tommy Roche:
They can, but they have to pay full market value as per the constitution
@P.J. Nolan: there also has to be an imminent purpose for the purchase. As of yet the DAA have no intent to use the land and would only be buying it for future proofing and nothing more.
@Tommy Roche: that would go against the property developers who hold this country to ransom!
@Tommy Roche: that took a long time because about 8 TDs bought houses on the road to get some of that free money
@Shane Lad: is that true? And links?
@Bill Spill: *any links
Put a compulsory order on it. Too long Ireland has bowed to people like Ulick. I’m sure whenever he acquired it he got it for choice. Nothing for Ireland to gain from him and the people like him.
@Con Cussed
Ulick would be absolutely delighted if the CPOed it because the state would have to pay full market value for it.
@P.J. Nolan: but realistically, what is the market value of this land? It has strictly no value to anyone except the airport
@Con Cussed: a dreadful idea. a CPO would pay way over the odds. there is no market for this land, except maybe growing vegetables.
@P.J. Nolan:
It’s called hope value. All he has to do is beat the DAA’s valuation.
@Cathal o’sullivan: No it wouldn’t, the market value for agricultural land…
@lesidees: private Airport with access to runways.
Heard the interview earlier on rte that Ulick McEvaddy is some obnoxious has been, from the brown envelope days
@Trent: Yeah.. Him and his sister Eileen Over.
@Ayo: Mind your back i lean ;}
@Trent: nonsense, know him personally and he is still as sharp as they come and rightly is seeking as much as he can from it. Would you sell your house for the same amount it was worth 25 years ago?
@Darius Guppy: Guppy Hahaha
@Trent: let me buy your house if you would. Happily pay you the 1998 price.
Sale subject to planning I expect. This will drag on for another decade.
All the DAA have to say is their looking for a new location for another airport. The land will be worthless. Seeing what Dubai has done, why not build it offshore to Dublin with a direct rail line from the city. Plenty of very large sand banks that could be developed. Would free up all the land northside and no noisy flights to be had over housing estates. Requires WILL however
So he’s ‘not after crazy money ‘ but wants around 200 million. Unreal.
@Jp Cleary: Get money! Don’t hate the player.
500 quid, cash in the paw. Take it or leave it, Ulick.
Haha old geezer still tried to hold state to ransom on his speculative investment before heading off into sunset. How much did he pay?
The DAA are talking out of their hoop when saying it’s not strategic to the airport. They’ll end up buying it in 10 or 20 years time for multiples of what it will be sold for this year, just like this years sale will be multiples of what it was bought for 20 years ago.
@El Sparko: heard guy from daa on radio earlier in the week, id say they will cope without that strip of land, he seems to have better things to do with the money
@Margaret Deacon: Like a 200€ million tunnel under the 16/34 runway!!!….. Crazy waste of money for the current setup…… Although it sounds like it’s a precursor to a terminal on the west side of the runway
Ulick my h0Ie
@: No thanks
First cousin of McGee with the same forename, I assume?
A private terminal in competition with the DAA is an excellent idea
@Oisin CK: so what happens when the private terminal goes bust or loses interest ,, good to see you can see the future
@Trent: why should it? Competition is good and is likely to attract Ryanair
@Oisin CK: imagine them running a terminal ,, there is a reason why they can’t ,,, google it
@Oisin CK: based on recent reports it would appear the runways are at capacity under current planning regulations, so how would a private operator gain access to runway slots to justify their investment?
Nice to see the DAA is not being held to ransom over land thats useless to everyone apart from Them.
It’s landlocked so how can anyone build a terminal there
If a terminal 3 is required then it has to be built along side 1 and 2
Besides who would move into this terminal as the main tenant and pay for the privilege …Ryanair would insist on a few free years and then get a few free years to move back to terminal 1
The State can do what it does when it screws over small landowners and homeownwers for CPOs.
Get the Fingal County Council to rezone the land as agricultural, and CPO if for 20 grand an acre.
How on earth was this land not bought by the state years ago?
@lesidees: Bertie was more interested in his Bowl
If I were a woman I’d tell him to Ulick McGee
Obviously the land owner is trying to maximise what he can get for it but it sounds like he’s putting on too much of a hard sell. Who else is going to do anything with that land other than the DAA realistically? And if there isn’t too much that even the airport can do with it then he is out of luck.
good to have kenny jacobs in post to call the owners bluff.
He should have sold in 2007
It’s about time DAA got a dose of their own medicine. Everything they charge for is outrageously over priced. They shoe is on the other Foot now. Pay up or shut up. Ye are masters of screwing people for Car Parking and everything else. It’s not so nice is it when people take advantage of Fish in a barrel.!!!!!!!
@Max Cooper: Dublin Airport is 100% owned by the Irish state, i.e. US! Why are you in favour of everyone in this country (including yourself) being screwed over by one private individual for their own enrichment?
I usual suspects posting childish jokes. They just can’t help revealing huw immature they are.
@Sun Rise: maybe. Or maybe they just like to be light-hearted and have a laugh in life :)
Ulick as in U lick the liathroidi of investment funds?
A find will buy it and then the government will pay 200m for it and the public will be gaslit about how this represents good value and is necess. Corruption at its finest with no accountability ever.
Does Rte actually have a radion programme
have your say