A contractor has been appointed to oversee the development of Waterford City’s Michael Street and surrounding areas.
The area, which was initially proposed for development as part of the North Quays project, has been at a standstill in recent months.
The first plan, was for a 10,030sqm shopping centre and a 635sqm cafe/ restaurant area. In July 2020, councillors were informed that a new plan would be 10,000sqft smaller and feature a 137 bedroom hotel, 2,634sqm of retail, 86 apartments, a creche and 373 car parking spaces. However, this has been revised significantly on a number of occasions.
A contractor has now been appointed regarding the development, according to Fianna Fáil Councillor, Jason Murphy.
“It’ll become clearer over the coming days”, he explained on Déise Today. “This came about at a meeting that we had recently of councillors within the South ward and I had raised concerns regarding the city centre. There’s always been a concern surrounding the Michael Street Development. I was told yesterday that contracts have finally been signed and a contractor has been appointed to develop that site.”
The developer in question is Beresford Holdings, who have a history of developments nationwide in cities such as Limerick and Dublin.
“More important for me is what the develop actually contains”, said Cllr. Murphy. “I’ve been told that there is going to be a hotel on New Street, there’s accommodation earmarked as well which is very important, a parking offering and also some retail on the corner of Michael Street too. This is a very important development for the city centre and it has been going on for far too long. This is good news.”
Waterford City & County Council owns the lands which will be developed, and an official announcement in the matter is expected in the coming days and weeks.
