Thousands of jobs in Teeside in northern England, that is. It is reported that a NAMA property formerly owned by developer John Gallagher is subject to a planning application which if successful next week, will lead to the building of 845 homes, a care home, crèche and “community facilities” as well as shops. There will also be development of roads serving the former Ministry of Defence site in Eaglescliff in Teeside and all told it is expected the project will create 3,000 jobs, The investment to develop the project is put at GBP 350m (€430m). NAMA was asked two days ago if it will be putting that investment into the scheme but there has not yet been any response.
In February this year, it was revealed that less than 40% of NAMA’s advances to developers was for construction and maintenance work in the Republic of Ireland despite 57% of NAMA’s assets – by reference to NAMA acquisition value, by reference to original value it’s higher and close to 65% – being located here.
On Wednesday this week Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan told Sinn Fein’s finance spokesperson that NAMA presently has €1.54bn of cash on hand which will balloon to €4.6bn as soon as Bank of Ireland’s shareholders agree to loan the Government €3.06bn which was temporarily borrowed from NAMA in March. So NAMA has the financial wherewithal to invest substantial sums in projects and it may well be that the Agency foots 100% of the investment in Teeside.
With a 14.3% unemployment rate in Ireland and 302,000 unemployed and a total of 430,000 on the Live Register, you might have thought that the powers that be could entice NAMA to invest more of its cash mountain domestically.
UPDATE: 4th May, 2012. RTE is reporting that NAMA is funding a €13m development at the Charlestown Shopping Centre near Finglas in north Dublin which will generate 250 new construction jobs and when the development is finished with give rise to 250 retail-related jobs. The development is owned by the Bailey brothers, Tom and Mick but the developer is said by RTE to be G&T Crampton, a company unrelated to the Baileys.
UPDATE: 18th May, 2012. RTE is reporting that it is “understood” that NAMA is lending €10m to the receivers appointed to Landmark Enterprises so as to complete an 80-apartment block in the Beacon South Quarter, the mixed use development developed by Paddy Shovlin, Tony and Patrick Fitzpatrick’s Landmark. Last year, NAMA sold 58 completed apartments in the development in the Sandyford, south Dublin development to the Cluaid housing association.
UPDATE: 31st May, 2012. ‘Property Week’ reports that planning consent has been granted for the NAMA development at Allens West in Tees Valley, Teeside, northern England.
NAMA Wine Lake 
Any suggestion as to what projects would be worthy of NAMAs money in Ireland?
@Eoin, National Childrens Hospital and in fairness to NAMA, it has offered up 11 sites and apparently there are detailed plans for a hospital at Elm Park in Ballsbridge. It is not clear how many unfinished estates of the sort that sold yesterday at Allsop – three partly complete homes on four acres which sold for €122,500 which was three times the max reserve of €40,000 – but it seems that there is demand for completed product. We still need a proper supermax in Ireland, not the burger chain but a high security modern prison particularly as Thornton Hall has evaporated. There are children still learning in pre-fabs and with a healthy population growth in young people we generally need more school space. We have an aging population which should require care homes and care villages. Following the crossing of the Rubicon on 29th March when NAMA’s cash was raided to fund Anglo temporarily, and justified by reference to the generality of the NAMA Act, it now seems that NAMA can provide “equity and credit” to deal with the financial crisis and that may include investment in infrastructure, roads, wi-fi, broadband, rail. Apart from the private sector, where is the money to ultimately pay NAMA for this? NAMA provides the funding initially and hopefully by the second half of this decade, Government coffers will be healthy enough to either repay NAMA or refinance – remember we’re only talking a small number of billions here to make a really big difference. And as long as NAMA generates more than the 6 month Euribor rate for its investment then domestic investment makes more sense than redeeming NAMA bonds, so we maintain the integrity of NAMA’s commercial remit as well.
The new DIT campus at Grangegorman,at the rate NAMA is hiring and expanding they will need all the property experts that graduate!
Why not design build and fund the Central Banks headquarters,nothing like a bit of real world experience not to mention the fees involved.
No seemingly the CB wants to be the developer of the Anglo HQ building. As well as it’s eventual owner occupier.
You’d think they should have things other than property development on their mind :o
@namawinelake Generally I agree with almost everything written on this site but think criticism of NAMA spending money on UK asset is not justified. NAMA’s remit is not investment into the Irish economy, its basic remit is to sell assets at the highest price. If NAMA in their wisdom determine that spending x amount of money on y project will increase the value of the asset and thus increase return for NAMA when sold, then does it really matter whether project Y is in UK, Ireland or Timbucktoo.
NAMA should only spend cash on those assets where it is felt that injecting cash would increase value of assets and should not broaden its remit unless there is abundance of cash on the balance sheet of NAMA to do that, for example in a very unlikely scenario where property recovery was such that NAMA were sure to break even on the €32 billion and have a profit. Then NAMA could become the government’s job play toy because anything above €32 billion is going back into the exchequer in any case.
Outside that fantasy outcome, think it makes perfect sense to be putting cash into performing assets to increase value when sold.
@JK it became the governments bi**h,when it allowed Noonan to ‘borrow’ 3 Billion to bridge the gap.Lost all moral authority at that point,still has not issued any statement on what is most likely the largest financial transaction it will be involved in.No wonder it cant complete a sale,the ‘loan’ makes no
commercial sense,repayment is subject to shareholder approval.
They will most likely push it back until after the vote,what if their is an unexpected outcome will B of I hoard its cash ?
Here is NAMA ‘putting cash into performing assets’
“Treasury has been funded by Nama, cannot fund itself, and Nama had allowed it use €100 million over the past two years to support its continued functioning rather than pay interest due to Nama on loans acquired, Mary Birmingham, Nama senior portfolio manager, said in an affidavit.”
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0222/breaking59.html
All for NAMA stimulating ANY economy,but what metric/measurement to they use,why so bullish on housing in Teeside?
Frank and the Bailey Bros. have some form-indeed Joan,sure why not give them some of the taxpayers money,just furious,great message.
“Brothers Michael and Tom Bailey, owners of construction giant Bovale, will not face criminal prosecution despite paying the largest tax settlement ever seen in Ireland.
Revenue chairman Frank Daly told the Dail Public Accounts Committee a prosecution was not tenable in the case. He said a record settlement of ?22m was made instead.
Referring to investigations into large-scale tax offences, Mr Daly said cases of that magnitude would always be examined with regard to prosecution.
But he said the passage of time, the difficulty in collecting evidence and the likelihood of getting people to co-operate must all be taken into account.
He also said it is the policy of Revenue to prosecute and then collect money in large tax offence cases.
“We have a very active approach to prosecution. As of today, there are 85 cases open either in the courts, with the DPP or in our own office.”
Labour’s Joan Burton reacted with fury to the decision.
She said in most countries such a large settlement would result in a criminal prosecution and asked if there was a chance the message is still going out that it is worthwhile taking a risk on your tax returns.”
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/bailey-brothers-to-avoid-prosecution-for-tax-evasion-68066.html
RTE talking nonsense again. Cramptons are the builder. The money is being given to the Baileys to finish the development. The dogs in the street know that, but not RTE.
@WSTT did NAMA get a receipt !
@JG, Nice one John! I’m beginning to wonder is NAMA changing tack with the realisation that it has no chance of meeting its target of breaking even by selling the assets on the market as it did in England.
Has it decided to try its hand as a developer in Ireland in order to add value? Cramptons are one of the best builders remaining in the country and have the organisation to complete any development. Maybe the parole officers in NAMA think that they can fill the space if it is built.
Civil servants with all the red tape and bureaucracy that they bring with them will never add net value. Too uncompetitive. How would they compete with a hands-on builder in Ballyjamesduff?
Only NAMA….
“The report of the then Flood Tribunal noted that the Baileys hindered and obstructed the tribunal proceedings by giving false accounts of their dealings with whistleblower James Gogarty. Mick Bailey’s “will we f***” response to Gogarty’s query about getting a receipt for a political contribution – something Bailey denied – was one of the tribunal’s most memorable disclosures”
http://www.thejournal.ie/the-whos-who-of-the-mahon-tribunal-4-373737-Mar2012/