Sean Mulryan: car park plans

Irish developer Ballymore has shelved plans to build Europe's tallest residential building and is to turn it into a car park instead.

Ballymore, which is owned by Sean Mulryan, and its joint venture partner Inacity have formally applied to the council to turn the site – close to Piccadilly Station in the centre of Manchester – into a car park.

They had originally planned to build a 220-room hotel and 430 apartments in a building that would have been more than three times the height of Liberty Hall.

The downturn in the property market combined with the recession means those plans have had to be postponed.

"The project is going to cost £130m and it would be incredibly difficult to fund this, as the lenders also know there are just not going to be any customers for the apartments.

"I firmly believe that when the recession ends, the Piccadilly Tower project will play an essential role in enhancing this region's economic prosperity," Inacity chairman Wayne Mellor told the Manchester Evening News last week. Ballymore declined to comment.

Ballymore has undertaken a redundancy programme in the UK and Ireland in recent months with about 40 staff, including Ray Hardy their highly regarded group investment director, leaving the company.

Meanwhile, Dublin City Council has granted planning permission for the use of the former veterinary college in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 as a temporary car park.

The site is owned by Ray Grehan, who bought it for more than €170m, and is awaiting a decision from An Bord Pleanála for a mixed use development on the site.