Any new developer for the North Quays will have to pick up the tab on an extra 5.6 million euro.
That's the amount that has been spent on site works by Waterford Council so far.
The local authority is carrying out a major reappraisal of the site after previous plans for the multi-million euro regeneration fell through.
It was thought that the former developer, Falcon Real Estate, would be liable but Fianna Fáil's Eamon Quinlan has said that won't be the case.
"The €5.6m will not stick to the previous developer, so they are not liable to pay it. It actually comes with the site so therefore that €5.6m will have to be rolled into
our offering to the market come September," he said. "Any new developer or developers that come in to take on the North Quays project will have to cover the €5.6m."
Responding to councillors at Thursday's monthly meeting, chief executive Michael Walsh said he doesn't expect the price to be an issue: "I'd be absolutely satisfied that we'd get that in the marketplace in the morning if we choose to dispose of the site so I've no worries in that context. A future developer will pick up the cost or alternatively we would simply be putting it to the market."
