Sod turned on €40m logistics development
By Mary Dennehy
THE sod was this week turned on a €40m state-of-the-art logistics hub in Baldonnell, which, Ireland’s largest speculative logistical development, is expected to deliver more than 1,000, localised jobs.
In 2015, Mountpark Logistics EU purchased the 35-acre site at Barney’s Lane on the N7, which lies between Casement Aerodrome and Baldonnell Business Park and conveniently close to the M50, the Outer Ring Road, N81 and N4.
Mayor Paul Gogarty at the sod turning of the Mountpark Baldonnell Site
The site is also well connected to key business parks in South County Dublin including Citywest, Grange Castle in Clondalkin and Greenogue in Rathcoole.
Despite the development’s potential to generate 150 jobs during construction and around 850 once complete, the proposed logistics hub generated lengthy debate in the chambers of South Dublin County Council – due to the proposed development taking place within an “identified floodplain”.
County planners refused permission, a decision appealed by Mountpark to An Bord Pleanala, which, after a long decision-making process, ruled in favour of the planning application in April 2017.
This week, the first sod was turned on the development, which will see the first of three buildings completed by October – with the entire development expected to be ready for business in June 2019.
Speaking at the sod-turning on, Philip O’Callaghan, of Mountpark said: “It’s been a reasonably long haul getting started but we’re delighted to now be on site.
“There’s a very good level of demand from multi-nationals and Irish-based companies and we are confident of letting the units and are cracking on with development.”
Creation of 150 jobs during construction
According to Mr O’Callaghan, the development is expected to create 150 jobs during construction and in the region of 850 positions once companies move in.
“In our other schemes we have surpassed what our job creation target was, it all depends on who goes into the units”, Mr O’ Callaghan said.
“We also carried out an employment survey and I believe that a lot of the jobs will be catered for locally.
“We believe that the Mountpark Baldonnell site can attract up to 850 direct and additional ancillary jobs.
“I’m reliably informed that that’s about the same amount of jobs as 3, as Vodafone, as KBC Bank and would rank the facility as comfortably within the top 200 employers in Ireland.
“This is the potential that we are looking for, to attract a major employer to the region.
“We are confident that we can achieve this.”
Looking down the road, Mr O’Callaghan believes the new logistics hub will have a positive knock-on effect on South County Dublin.
“We have taken the plunge to really up the spec quality of our buildings to make them suitable for companies not in Ireland at the moment”, he said.
“It could be appealing to new multi-nationals looking at Ireland or those based here but who do not have a logistics operation here.”
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