Council seeks new partner for Ferrybank’s €500m North Quays development
The future of the €500 million North Quays Development in Ferrybank hangs in the balance after the developer failed to fulfill its contractual obligation with Waterford City & County Council.
The council has confirmed it will now seek out new partners to develop the project and insists it still hopes to begin construction on site early in 2022.
In a statement, the council said they appreciated the contribution made by the Saudi-backed Falcon Real Estate Development to the landmark project. But they said they have no option but to seek “alternative funding partners” after Falcon failed to demonstrate how they will fund the development.
“Over recent months the Council extended the contract to May 15th, 2021 with Falcon Real Estate Development (Falcon) for the North Quays Development to allow the developer (Falcon) time to source alternative funding partners, given the obvious constraints imposed by the Covid 19 pandemic,” the statement said.
“In correspondence received from Falcon Real Estate Development Ireland over the weekend, the developer has not demonstrated to any reasonable satisfaction that it has fulfilled its contractual conditions.
“As a consequence, this Council will not be extending the contract further in the coming weeks and will be in discussion with Falcon to conclude our relationship on an agreed basis.
“The Council appreciates Falcon’s commitment to the project over the past number of years; and the considerable resources, time and effort committed to the project by the company,” the statement added.
Despite this significant setback, the council said it remains “fully committed to the development of the North Quays”.
And it added: “We are satisfied that there will be market interest and that the North Quays project is now in a very different place to where it was a few years ago.
“This Council has been working in the background to undertake a fundamental reappraisal of the North Quays Scheme and will be proposing to engage with the marketplace on a revised proposal in the coming weeks.
“We would now be targeting development commencement in Quarter 2, 2022.”
