The former Irish Glass Bottle factory land in Ringsend is expected to fetch more than Euros 500m when bids are submitted on Oct/25 for the grimy industrial site. The developer Liam Carroll is the frontrunner among 6 serious bidders circling the 25-acre site sold by South Wharf & Dublin Port. Shares in South Wharf, which will receive 66.4% of the proceeds, spiked last week at 8 Euros, suggesting some investors are pricing in a valuation of more than Euros 510m for the site. In 2002, the former Ardagh plc split into a glass bottler & a property company that later became South Wharf. At the time of the split, the property business was valued at 10c a share. Property sources believe the site may fetch more than Euros 20m an acre. South Wharf's interest in the site is the company's only asset. With the deadline for tenders falling on October 25, it is understood that Bernard McNamara, Joe O'Reilly's Castlethorn Developments and Paddy Kelly also are among the contenders. The site had been the subject of a protracted battle between Dublin Port and South Wharf, a former bottle maker headed by Paul Coulson. Last year, South Wharf, a long-term tenant on the site, sought to take advantage of a legal loophole contained in the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1978 to buy the state-owned property for as little as Ç750,000. However, the parties reached a settlement in June _ a month before the case was due before the Commercial Court. This has resulted in third parties being invited to tender for the site by acquiring all the shares of South Wharf. The acquirer will be able to avoid the 9% stamp duty normally levied on a property of this value, as it will be taking over a company. Dublin Port will receive 33.5% of the proceeds and South Wharf shareholders will share the remainder, excluding transaction and legal costs estimated at Ç15m. The selling parties are prohibited from taking part in the tender process or the subsequent redevelopment of the site, which is zoned for residential, commercial and retail use.
