Events Centre

Who's going to own this after construction ? I know its not the state .

But is live nation going to be the sole owner or just the operator.?

I assume that between the increased site value ,and the increased construction costs that this is going to be 1 expensive building to complete - which makes me think it wont be a venue that council funding (plus interest) and state top ups just wont keep up with costs .. and obviously bam are in no rush ..

And i dont begrudge the cost for plans ect -its a big complex project - that costs -

a bit pissed that the state is on the hook for that and not the developer/ owner who says wether the construction starts or not ..

Another sod turning?

A whole lot of nothing really :

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster/arid-41211121.html

Its not going to happen folks.

I don't understand why some people appear to take such pleasure in repeating this.

I suspect the developer will try to convert the site for apartments instead which would be far more profitable.

Its all just politics are optics pretending its going ahead.

The big advantage Cork would have over other similar sized UK venues is pulling artists who are going to 3Arena anyway, if an artist is bringing the show to Ireland it will often be worth their while to tack on a Cork date even though the venue is smaller. A lot of the similarly sized UK venues either have no operator or an operator without a large presence in the UK. AEG and ASM don't directly operate medium sized venues in the UK and tie up the market for the larger venues. Live Nations biggest venue in the UK is Sheffield which has tiny pull compared to Dublin. The model Live Nation are going for in Cork is very different to any venue in the UK, which is reflected in the language used by Cork City council around how unique the venue is.

Im with you on construction costs, they will make or break the project. Its more likely than not they kill it. However I don't think the project is dead yet, once/if this is killed the costs spent on getting nowhere will be scrutinised, there is no way that Cork City council would be spending money on detailed design or wasting their time with planning if the project was already scrapped.

I think 6000 capacity for Cork is too small to attract the big acts that would play the 3Arena.

If an act is popular enough to sell out the full configuration of the 3Arena, 14,000, then adding a second night in Dublin is more appealing that another night in Cork for 6000.

For medium acts that would not be able to sell out the full 3Arena configuration, 6000 more tickets to sell might be a stretch and a promoter might not risk it.

Cardiff Arena in Cardiff is probably the closest venue in capacity to the Event Centre in Cork, but that is the capital of Wales and would have a larger catchment area than Cork.

I'm not sure I like the ownership arrangement either, with the Govt paying most of the cost and not retaining ownership.

Most councils in the UK build the venue then rent it back to the venue operator for a cost.

For example the new venue in Cardiff, The original financing model would have its cost effectively covered by the council utilising its prudential borrowing powers to draw down £170m of long-term repayable finance through the UK Government’s Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) and Live Nation then entering into a 45-year rental agreement. The rental income would cover the council’s borrowing costs.

The SEC in Glasgow is 90.86% owned by Glasgow City Council (GCC) and 9.14% by a number of private institutions, such as banks, pension funds and insurance companies.

If the gov and city council are on the hook for the design and planning costs , then the design project can go on for-ever ,

Is the site subject to the vacant site levy ( or whatever its called )

I can see a drastically scaled down development with a lot less event centre and a load of student accommodation ( or offices or whatever is flavour of the month) obviously after another redesign, but managing to use all the available government cash for the build , ( and then some )

I’m not sure why BAM get all the blame? The city council are the project managers and Live Nation demanded the redesign to increase capacity. The fact that the initial planning permission and contracts were signed before consultation with Live Nation is 100% on the city council.