Finglas Village Developers Marumba go bust

Marumba is the company that owns the Finglas Village Shopping Centre and were negotiating with Gerard Kehoe, owner of the Drake Inn regarding the car park and air rights above the Drake. €14 million was the figure as you will remember.

Delays and greed were the causes of the nondevelopment of the village.

Despite ill-informed claims by election candidates and others, local politicians in the area had no hand act or part in delaying this project nor had Dublin City Council officials. Ken Hand acted very efficiently and tried to get things done. I acted for and with the Finglas Village Traders at the end of the negotiations about the business moves and we nearly got there. The subsequent bursting of the property bubble meant that summer of 2008 was the last chance for Finglas village in the short-term. The report in the Sunday Tribune summerises the presnt situation.

McNamara company went into receivership a day after land deal Neil Callanan in Sunday Tribune Sunday 11 April 2010

Marumba Properties, a property company controlled by Bernard McNamara, David Courtney and Bernard Doyle, was put into receivership a day after local councillors agreed a land swap that would have facilitated its planned redevelopment of Finglas shopping centre.

Councillors on Dublin City Council’s north west area committee agreed on 18 March to “recommend proposed exchange of lands” and the following day Companies Office documents show Barclay’s Bank appointed David Carson of Deloitte.

The redevelopment of the centre had been planned for a number of years and was expected to include 160 apartments as well as shops and a supermarket.

Courtney and Doyle are investors in Superquinn, which owns a supermarket across the road and there was some speculation it was to relocate to the redeveloped shopping centre.

Accounts for Marumba for the financial year ended 30 September 2008 show that the value of the company’s profits had fallen from more than €40m to €25m. In addition the company’s loan facilities had expired and were being renegotiated.

The company said its redevelopment plans for its investment properties “may take some time to complete based on the current economic environment”.