Limerick’s recovery plan from the financial destruction of Covid-19. The €200m development is expected to generate 3,000 jobs

The €200m development of part of the Limerick City Center, known as the “Opera Site”, will begin in the autumn. The project is expected to generate 3,000 jobs and restore the city that Covid-19 had financially destroyed.

It was planned to expand in the mid-2000s, but failed due to the economic downturn. The site which once valued at over €100m was later acquired by Limerick City Council for just €12m in 2011 and subsequently transferred to Limerick Twenty Thirty DAC, a development company set up and owned by the Council.

The project promises to be a landmark commercial development, reflecting Limerick’s status as a leading destination for inward investment.

The appointment of Cogent Associates as project managers of the Opera Site, which managed the Central Bank and Google’s EMEA HQ project, is seen as a significant step forward in starting the development.

Limerick 2030 chief executive David Conway said the development “will trigger the most important and timely economic stimulant of modern times in the city, and allow Limerick to kick-start the Covid-19 economic recovery”.

The project is fully funded to loans from the European Investment Bank and the Council of European Development Bank.

The major development, which will include a new public square with pedestrian links to the city, is expected to position Limerick as a desirable location.

Kevin James, Managing Director of Cogent Associates, said that no other place in the country will have a project of the transformational potential of Opera and commencing on site this year.