Your 10 at 10

Your 10 at 10 –

Some of the most noteworthy construction stories from the last week, as compiled by the team at Construction Network Ireland.

(Have a story you think should be covered? Contact editor@constructionnetworkireland.com)

A report by DKM Economic Consultants and the Society of Chartered Surveyors this week shows that, while Irish construction output is to increase by 14.4 per cent this year, the level of construction in Ireland is nowhere near where it should be.

At present the construction sector in Ireland accounts for just 5.7 per cent of GDP, half of the EU average and one of the worst rates in Europe. While the industry is expected to grow even faster in 2017, DKM’s projected growth levels are still nowhere near enough to meet demand.

You can download the full report here.

US Investment giant Blackstone has closed a massive €950 million deal to take over the Blanchardstown Centre in what is one of the biggest property deals in the history of the state.

The shopping centre was put on the market by Green Property five months ago with a purported price tag of €1 billion. Green Property has sold off a number of properties recently.

The Blanchardstown Centre has an occupancy rate of 97 per cent and will offer an initial yield of 5.4 per cent.

Read more about the story in the Irish Independent here

According to reports in the Irish Independent, construction is due to begin “within a matter of weeks” on the new National Children’s Hospital on the St. James Hospital Campus in Dublin City Centre.

The controversial development is budgeted to cost €650 million but that estimate is due to rise sharply.

4.

Planning permission has been granted for the second phase of the redevelopment of the Garda Communications Centre on Harcourt Street in Dublin 2 by Hibernia, who purchased the site for €70m in 2015.

Housing Minister Simon Coveney has defended the pre-election sod-turning at the stalled €53 million events centre on the old Beamish & Crawford site in Cork. According to reports in The Irish Examiner, it’s believed no building will start before the end of the year.

Planning permission has been granted to The Hodson Bay Hotel group for a 257 bed hotel in the Coombe, in Dublin City Centre. The new hotel will be built on beside Fallon’s pub on Dean St, oppostie St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and is due to cost €40m

Google completed its latest data centre in West Dublin at a cost of €150m. The project took just over a year to build and created 400 jobs during the construction phase.

Irish Water has commenced work on an €18.4 million project in Donegal, which will involve development of new sewerage schemes in Killybegs, Bundoran, Glencolumbkille and Convoy. The projects are part of a planned €70m investment in water infrastructure in the county.

9.

A cross-party committee on Housing and Homelessness has recommended that the government build at least 50,000 new social housing units over the next 5 years, at a cost of €1.8 billion per year.

The report was later welcomed by the Construction Industry Federation, which said that “if the lack of supply isn’t addressed in the immediate term then first-time buyers, landlords, local authorities and FDI companies are all competing for inadequate supply“.

And finally…

10.

Donald Trump, the likely Republican Party candidate for the Presidential election in the United States, suffered a setback in Co. Clare when the planning authorities decided that a 2.8km wall, which would have cost a reported €10 million, was not necessary.

The wall was designed to protect “The Donald’s” Doonbeg Golf Course and enjoyed strong local support.