CURRENT ACTIVITY:
Consultant in urban development and hotel development

• Studying and contributing to the best examples of urbanism in the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Barcelona, London.

• Stockholm, Hammerby is the best example of a fully sustainable urban town – I have seen Bethesda, Maryland has a master plan for a fully integrated city and is a good example of public/private partnering

• Barcelona Smart City - a forum where key contributors evolve thinking on creating smart cities

• *All provide clear examples of master planning and of public/private partnering

 

ACHIEVEMENTS:
Include the development of:

• Sandyford Industrial Estate- corporate buildings that house Microsoft, AIB, Oracle and others

• Tallaght Retail Park in 1997 – UPS as tenants * This was achieved with pro- active partnering with the County Manager John Fitzgerald and with Minister Rabbitte*

• Belfield Office Park - Hewlett Packard, Ericson’s, and Smart Force Approx 2k jobs * This centre was achieved with pro-active partnering with the County Manager , the Head of the IDA and Anglo Irish Bank*

• Belfield Office Park - In the past six months we have housed the Paddy Power Group circa 600 jobs

• Smithfield Square - a 1 ml sq ft development – Cinema Re-opening And Soldiers Home

• Clarion Quay – a development with the Clarion Hotel, Apartments, Retail and the National College of Ireland

• O2 Building –

• Riverside 11 - Bank of New York Mellon (1200 jobs between Dublin and Cork offices) Beauchamp Solicitors 440 jobs

• ESRI Building

• Maldron Hotel/Carton/Clarions etc.

• Burlington Plaza - SKY 800 jobs and Bank of Ireland offices with 1,000 jobs (a 250k sq ft building)

• Hotel Developments: between 1996 and 2007 we developed circa 7k hotel rooms and circa 3k jobs under the brands of Clarion Hotels, Quality Inns, Comfort Inns, Prem Hotel Group, Phoenicia Hotel Malta, Prajelato Ski Resort

  • 2012 Prem Group: 2,900 Rooms - 1,400 Jobs

  • Ireland: 858 Rooms 400 Jobs

  • UK: 575 Rooms 200 Jobs

  • Belgium + France: 1451 Rooms 800 Jobs

  • 2012 Clarion Group: 1,811 Rooms - 1,302 Jobs

  • Ireland: Rooms 1600 Jobs 1200

  • UK: Rooms 211 Jobs 102

 

NAMA

• We provided NAMA with outline business plans for 80 loans to a total value of circa 2bl

• We worked positively with the account managers to evolve solutions. However rug was pulled and we were served with receivers letters without any prior notice

• This was unexpected and not in context with the relationship – we felt it was an internal or external political decision – no reason given for receivers

• Some people feel demonized and hunted for taking commercial risks. We were expecting that the change of government would adopt a more business/commercial like approach

• Disappointed to hear the Taoiseach say that the property people cannot play a role in the future of the country (Agents/Lawyers etc. can)

• Our desire is to work in a spirit of collaboration with NAMA

• We wish to communicate with them in a meaningful and solution-driven manner

• We are still waiting for an answer to over 50%+ of plans submitted under the 0017 debtor Id

 

PLAN IRELAND

• We wish to play our part in helping to get the country functioning

• I don’t want my relationship with Ireland to be as a tourist

• I can lead the development of at least 2 sites to provide much-needed office space for international companie

•  New York Mellon needs a building of 200k sq ft

• Facebook currently need a building of 5000 sq metres and may lease as much as 11,150 sq metres over the next couple of years

• In Hanover Quay there is a site which could provide top level corporate space

• The Anglo building needs to be finished

• There is a need to evolve a masterplan for Phase 3 of the Docklands – “Emerald Valley”

 

Overseas opportunities we are pursuing:

• Nairobi for housing developments

• Libya for new airport, housing and hotels

• Ghana and Uganda for housing and hotel

• Alberta for infrastructure development to support oil industry

​

Notes of conversation with Minister Pat Rabbitte on Wednesday 8 th February 2012
Re : The media agenda / P.R. 
The Leitrim oil fracking issue is presented in a skewed way by the media
The reduction of the fuel allowance for senior citizens is represented by the media as a "death by
hypothermia issue"
It is frustrating to see the media put more importance on the septic tank charges and place that issue
ahead of the news of Sky bringing 800 new jobs to Burlington Plaza
Re: History of Relationship
Paddy's relationship with Pat Rabbitte goes back to 1997 when he took a partnering approach in relation to the Tallaght Retail Park where UPS were installed as tenants – the County Manager was also supportive at that time
Similar support was given from the County Manager, Head of IDA and Anglo Irish Bank to get the
Belfield Office Park started. We took national pride in getting in top level clients and housing 2k jobs
Re:  Current Situation

• Paddy Power are now a tenant in Belfield Office Park with 600 jobs.

• Gordon Gill of Sherry Fitzgerald valued Belfield Office Park at 120ml – It is now deemed to be worth 35ml – this is good for the country but bad for investors - but we are in favour and accept the re-set of the market 

• In Burlington Plaza our most recent tenant is Sky with 800 jobs – this is great from a job perspective – but the rents are at 60% discount

• Sky have 18 months rent free and fit-out equivalent to an extra 18 months (fit-out cost 1.3ml)  NAMA

did not want to do the deal as it is not really commercial but it is good for creating jobs John Mulcahy valued Burlintgton Plaza at 350ml. It is strange that John Mulcahy should have been the one to set that value and yet no blame is
apportioned to him -  PK said this at Magilll Summer School
PK spoke to  Brian Lenihan about the punitive 9% stamp duty
PR asked who financed Burlington Road - AIB brought in their own private clients for 25% of the
equity, - that has now been written off
AIB did the remainder of the financing after taking over part of the loan from Anglo 
Only time that we had a issue with Anglo was here when AIB came looking for the loan
AIB and Bank of Ireland were offering to finance the Anglo loans on a non-recourse basis 
Only time we had any issues with Anglo was when we paid off a loan - they came on strong
particularly with our partners the Flynns
Riverside 2 houses Beauchamp Solicitors and Bank of New York Mellon - We created the investment
and almost sold it to Irish Life for 85ml - this valuation was done by Sherry Fitzgerald -   - because of
partnership model where our partners felt it would be best to re-finance and so we did not sell but
financed with BOS at 56ml (a 65% loan, net of sales costs)
The BoS policy is to sell that investments and the shortfall is written off
PR said construction is way below where it should be - the pent up demand for construction of
corporate and private housing is there but no liquidity

A job is a job and equally valuable whether in construction IT or pharma
NAMA
PR said Brian Lenihan had allocated a fund of 2.5bl for professional fees 
PK said Arthur Cox were the favoured professionals
PR spoke of the need for looking at refurbishing the Nama bill as it was created in a frenetic
environment
PR + PK spoke of the possibility that Michael Geoghegan may be responsible for a change of culture
within Nama
PR - Political influence is not exerted upon NAMA
PK - We don't get income from NAMA which is legally ours - but we owe the tax - there should be an
offset so we are compliant - always have been compliant with our taxes - PR found this an incredible
situation

 

PR - NAMA may have the paperwork perfect - perhaps unlike many of the developers -  but will there
be any real business done

GENERAL

• PK – 840k salary to the Anglo boss is ridiculous

• PK – We saw the clouds gathering in ’06 and our family agreed it was time to batten down the hatches in all ways possible - When PK announced that the company business was no longer sustainable he got sympathy calls from both Mary Harney and Mary Hanifin – The sympathy was appreciated – But it was apparent they had no awareness that the re-set of the market was happening right across the board and that there was no strategy to deal with it

• PK - Planning hampered everything – it took 13 years to assemble Burlington road - the issue of spurious objections and the lack of objectivity with Bord Pleanala really hampers development and adds huge costs to the process

• PK The Smurfit site took 7 years to achieve planning   

• PK Love the country want to be here but felt that it is right to plan a life that is principally spent overseas 

• PK I see Irish property people in London and elsewhere who feel demonized and hunted – it is simply not right – what culture is creating this to our people – many who have done excellent work and employed thousands of people

 

We want to be able  to stand with the ambassadors overseas and not feel we have “financial aids”

 

The diaspora are an important resource and we feel that we can be part of energising and working out
some potential for job opportunity within this group. The Phoenicia loan in Malta was called even though only 2 of the investors were in Nama and it is a fully servicing loan - Nama get an annual return of  90k per month from the Phoenicia portfolio

 

If we have a culture where you try to run the hospitals without the doctors – what sense does that
make? 

 

• PR - A job is a job - whether it is in construction 

• PR - Working matters through with the Troika has taken all the politicians time -  If it's not fixed in Europe in can't be fixed here

• PR - The trillion that has been lent into the banking system should create liquidity

• PK - The banks that have been nationalised should be under government policy but they are not 

• PK – I have a mindset to prepare for bankruptcy but do not want to penalise my family by entering the process A philosophy of "Come on lads" an not "Go on lads"

• PK - Bank relationships were based on trust but now do not believe it to bo so  "Simon Kelly's book Breakfast with Anglo sets this out clearly

-

Pat Rabbitte (born 18 May 1949) is an Irish Labour Party politician who has been Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources since March 2011. He is currently a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South–West
constituency and was the leader of the Labour Party from October 2002 to
August 2007.

​

The former chief executive of CRH Liam O’Mahony has been appointed as
the new chairman of IDA Ireland. 4th February 2010
 

The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD

 

Joe Costello (born 13 July 1945) is an Irish Labour Party politician. He is
currently a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Central constituency and is the
current Minister of State for Trade and Development.