Defence Online

State transport company CIÉ is planning to sell or redevelop prime sites in Dublin, Galway and Cork which could yield thousands of new homes, offices and student accommodation.The company signed an agreement in recent weeks with a private sector partner to redevelop a massive 2.4 hectare site at Kent Station, Cork, and is at an “advanced stage” of negotiations to sell a site near Dublin’s Point Village with permission for more than 900 student bed spaces.The group, which operates Irish Rail, Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus, also expects to go to the market next year seeking partners to redevelop a 3.7 hectare site at Connolly Station.Last year, CIÉ struck a deal with developer Johnny Ronan to develop Tara Street Station in Dublin, which could see a 22-storey office block erected.Housing Minister Simon Coveney is keen to utilise State-owned lands for housing, and has previously indicated that CIÉ lands should be developed.The Irish Independent has learned that CIÉ Group Property signed a development agreement with Lovatell Ltd, a joint venture of Clarendon Properties and BAM, to redevelop the Kent Station site. Subject to planning, the mixed-use site could accommodate 50,000sq.metres of development, including housing, office and leisure facilities, and the developers are in pre-planning talks with the local authority.CIÉ said that any developments would have to allow for continued use of its sites for transport services.