Trim town centre site returns to market with €2.5m guide price

A site of just over three acres that was to form part of the new town centre development in Trim has put been on the market again by Trim Town Council and Meath County Council. The 1.28 hectares (3.16 acres) site adjoins the new Office of Public Works (OPW) headquarters in the town and has a guide price of €2.5m. The site is zoned for 'new town centre activities' and joint selling agents Lisney and Smith Harrington have said the site could appeal to developers, investors and retailers. A further site of 0.94 hectares (2.34 acres) could also be potentially made available and the larger site of 5.5 acres already has planning permission for a 25,000sq m retail and shopping centre development and 144 residential units. In April 2009, after months of speculation, it emerged that the developer which had originally bought the site was pulling out of the deal. Bennett Construction was awarded the tender to develop the new town centre site in 2003 and planning permission was granted to Shaston Contracting, a Bennett company, in October 2007 following an appeal to an Bord Pleanala for an anchor supermarket, 21 retail units, a bar/café, creche, offices and 144 apartments. The anchor unit of 2,400sq metres was to be occupied by SuperValu and the 21 retail units varied in size from 87sq m to 217sq m. There was also to be 607sq m of office space. In December 2008, SuperValu pulled out of the project and, some months later, it was confirmed that talks were underway to terminate the contract with Bennett Construction who no longer wanted to proceed with the project. After the town centre plans fell through, councillors agreed to begin the process of offering the site for sale again and valuation reports were obtained and joint selling agents Smith Harrington and Lisney were appointed. The site was advertised in the local and national media last week. Interested parties are requested to submit their written offer for the purchase of the lands in a sealed envelope to be received at the offices of Lisney by 18th November. The letters of offer must contain appropriate background information to enable the bid to be assessed and details of the principals behind the proposed purchase should be submitted together with development experience, proposed funding for the purchase and general details of the type, quantity and mix of development proposed. Interested parties are also asked to indicate if they may be interested in negotiating a purchase of the larger land area which has planning permission. At last week's meeting of Trim Town Council, councillors were briefed on the development. Town manager Tadhg McDonnell said expressions of interest were being invited and he hoped to come back to councillors at their December meeting with an indication of the level of interest in the site, Cllr Ray Butler expressed his dissatisfaction that councillors had not been told the valution of the site. He said: "One of the biggest decisions this town council will make is to sell this land but we haven't been told the value. We have been told it is secret and could jeopardise the sale. I would like to know the value of that land. People have put their trust in us, we should have a bigger say in the sale of the land and surely we should know the value of the land." Cathaoirleach Cllr Trevor Golden said he would be wary of members knowing the site value but agreed that they should have more input in the sale. Cllr Ronan McKenna said: "I can see both sides. The valuation is commercially sensitive and, if it is going into a tender process, I can understand." He added that after the closing date for the offers, they could see whether offers exceeded or matched the valuation and that he could see no advantage of knowing the value now. Cllr Golden said that once the sensitive period had passed, there would be no problem in knowing the figures. Cllr Butler asked what was the difference in an engineer in county hall and a councillor elected by the people knowing the figure. Town clerk Brian Murphy said that the ultimate decision in the sale of the land is a reserved function and if councillors are not happy, they can reject the site disposal and it would remain in council ownership. He also pointed out that the advertisements would have a guide price. Cllr Phil Cantwell said the middle of the town was struggling and the council had to be conscious that they don't close the centre of the town. He added that he was not satisfied with the process the last time, saying they were looking for a supermarket and then there were apartments and a full town centre. He said the land had been sold for a supermarket but the developer had come back with something else.