Vertigo? U2 tower to be taller

[darkman]

Irish Times

Thursday, June 19, 2008Around the block
U2 Tower to be ready by 2011?:




WITH A NUMBER of high-profile public private partnership (PPP) housing regeneration schemes biting the dust of late, tongues have been wagging about the viability of the ambitious U2 Tower in Dublin's south docklands.

The Dublin Docklands Development Authority's (DDDA) annual report published yesterday sets 2011 as the completion date for the tower. However, negotiations between the DDDA and development firm Geranger have been on the long-winded side, to put it mildly.

Talks between the two parties began last October and Geranger - a consortium consisting of Seán Mulryans Ballymore Homes, developer Paddy McKillen and U2 band and management members - are still being referred to as "provisional preferred bidder" by the DDDA.

Paul Maloney, chief executive of the DDDA, however, has the end of July as D Day.

The "state of play" (meaning whether the provisional preferred bidder has moved to preferred bidder) will be announced then, according to Maloney. Not a man to be pinned down, Maloney says that "financial, legal and technical" issues were still being hammered out by the two parties.

No doubt there is much to discuss. The tower, due to rise to well over 120 metres, will be the tallest building built in Dublin and by far the most ambitious PPP scheme.

And that's not to mention the beleaguered residential market and question marks over the feasibility of PPP schemes.

"Naturally we are being exceptionally careful," says Maloney.

Starchitects Foster + Partners' plans for the €200 million scheme include a hotel, shops and residential accommodation - 20 per cent of which will be social and affordable.

Referring to the stalled residential market as one of the "hurdles" the authority has to overcome, Maloney insists that it is "committed to ensuring the U2 Tower is built and has taken very significant steps to deliver it".

Fingers crossed it won't be a bad case of vertigo!

So the end of July is 'D day'? Is it going to bite the dust? Me thinks so.

[JoePublic]

Any ideas how much apartments in the U2 tower would need to cost to make this project viable?

[jdivision]

Well it's still being redesigned afaik so it's an ambitious target to have it done by then

[GregF]

No way will this hyped up pile of shite be built with this recession. Who cares now in any way, its gone on too long, a bit like U2.

[cgcsb]

yea but we all know how U2 like to hear U2 talk about U2. Who cares anyway the point watchtower is going up anyway. mayb in the future if the DDDA get their act together, they'll find some serious developers for the site.

[theman]

TBH, the feasibility of the original design were on a knife edge, that was in the good ole days when people qued up to spend €1m plus on an apartment. Given that the scheme is now an over-blown ego project, twice the size of the original scheme, and the fact the arse has fallen out of residential property, it doesn't take a genius to work out that it would be shear madness to develop this. End of July - project will be quietly dropped.

[Conorworld]

Aesthetically it is a dreadful looking building. Its like a deformed alien fish with antennae and a tumour on its head. I hope it crashes (as an idea)

[gunter]

I saw, from a quick back read of the thread, that last year one of the contestants (htd2008 ?) had queried some similarities between his original entry and the new Fosters scheme.

When I was looking for something else, I came across a render of a different entry (Acito & Partiners) which seems to share several of the main components of the Fosters scheme albeit in stumpy infant, rather that elongated adolescent, form.



I suspect we'll all have plenty of time to chew the fat on this and other stalled prestige projects over the coming years

[darkman]

Negotiations put U2 Tower in jeopardy
03 August 2008 By Gavin Daly
The future of the planned U2 Tower in Dublin is uncertain, with negotiations ongoing between the backers of the €200 million project and the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA).

Geranger, a consortium made up of U2, Ballymore Properties, property developer Paddy McKillen, and architect Norman Foster, was named preferred bidder for the project last October. Paul Maloney, chief executive of the DDDA, said last month that he expected an agreement by the end of July, but no deal has yet been reached on the 130-metre tower.

‘‘Given current market conditions, the DDDA and Geranger Ltd have agreed to extend the negotiation period to allow for further analysis and for design issues relating to the Dodder bridge,” a spokeswoman for the DDDA said last Friday.





The DDDA has refused to comment on the timescale for the negotiations, which focus on financial, legal and technical aspects of the project.

The property market has suffered a dramatic slump since Geranger submitted its proposal for the tower, which would be topped with a pod-shaped recording studio for U2. In its annual report, published last month, the DDDA said the U2 Tower was due to be completed in 2011.

The Watchtower, the 120-metre tower that is part of Harry Crosbie’s Point Village development, is under construction, although architectural sources said that its design had been changed to allocate more floor space to offices rather than apartments.

:/

[johnny21]

Another project delayed as usual.

"Plans for a new tower to be built in the Dublin Docklands area have been halted by The Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) and financial backer Geranger ltd in order to continue financial negotiations until the 31 October. Geranger ltd is compromised of Ballymore Properties, Patrick McKillen & August Partners and U2 Band members and management and was selected as the provisional bidder to design, construct and finance the €200 million U2 tower. Foster & Partners designed the 120 metre high tower with a public viewing platform, a hotel, retail and residential space including 20% social and affordable housing. The top of the tower will also have an egg shaped pod to house U2’s state of the art recording studio.The site of the tower will be located at the merging of three waterways, the River Liffey, River Dodder and Grand Canal. Construction is expected to begin in 2009."

From architecture now website http://architecturenow.ie

[JoePublic]

Remember the good old days of 2007 when we had 3 companies fighting each other to build it? Now they can't interest anyone.

Of course if the DDDA had their act together, this thing could have been built years ago when the good times were here, grrrrr

[alonso]

Missing crane may delay U2 Tower
DUBLIN Docklands Authority is seeking to remove an old maritime crane from the Record of Protected Structures (RPS) to facilitate the development of the U2 Tower, a local environment group has claimed.

The authority has applied to Dublin City Council for the crane, believed to have been built on Sir John Rogerson's Quay at the start of the last century, from the RPS. However, councillors last night voted to postpone the application on the grounds that the crane had "gone missing".

Although the crane is on the current RPS, it was removed from the quayside sometime in the last 10 years. A report from senior council planner Patricia Hyde to councillors said the crane was removed "some considerable time ago". However, the planning department does not know who removed it.

The planning department recommended to councillors yesterday that they delete the crane from record. However, councillors voted to defer any decision so legal advice could be taken on whether deletion from the RPS would prevent legal action being taken against whoever removed the crane without permission.

"This crane was part of the history of the docks and was an important symbol of our industrial past," Labour councillor Kevin Humphreys said.

"We need to ask the Docklands Authority and Dublin Port who removed it, and we can put in a freedom of information request if needs be, but we should not consider taking it off before we have clarification of the legal position," Mr Humphreys said.

Damien Cassidy of the Ringsend, Sandymount and Irishtown Environment Group said the Docklands Authority needed the crane taken off the RPS in order to facilitate the construction of the U2 Tower at Britain Quay and the bridge over the river Dodder.

The Docklands Authority was not available for comment last night.

© 2008 The Irish Times

Only in Ireland....

[reddy]

The mind boggles...

[ForzaIrlanda]

One word-FARCE

[GregF]

How is this project coming along, I'm sure it must be nearly finished.......ahem!

[lostexpectation]

who owned the place at the time?

[PTB]

What made this crane so important?

[GregF]

Ah sure much better to have an old disused rusty crane there than a landmak building for the city!

[PTB]

Yes, but I gather it could have been moved and conserved.

[johnny21]

u2 model!!!:D:cool:!

[cgcsb]

I do like the proposed tower, but the fact remains that it'll most likely never be built

[ihateawake]

So if it doesnt go ahead on holloween or whenever, will the site be left for it to be built later or sold on?
Cheers for pic johnny.

[Pepsi]

it won't be built. end of story. tbh, i don't know why people even propose the highrises anymore. it's a waste of time.

[GregF]

This will definitley be the Sterling Prize winner next year when it is complete.

[jdivision]

http://www.tribune.ie/business/news/article/2008/oct/19/all-that-you-can-leave-behind/