€400m project aims to create 3,000 jobs

A €400 MILLION development planned for an iconic location in Waterford will create more than 3,000 jobs for the city when completed, backers said yesterday.

Plans for the City Quay project on the site of the Ard Rí Hotel include a new hotel and upwards of 400,000 square feet (37,161 sq m) of retail, commercial, residential, and cultural space. Planning applications are due to be lodged today with Waterford City Council and Kilkenny County Council and, if successful, the development is expected to create a further 500 jobs during construction.

City Quay developer Tom Coughlan of the Cork-based TRM Consortium pledged the new 208-bed hotel will be completed by the start of the Tall Ships Race in Waterford in 2011 — provided construction gets underway by the start of 2009. Also planned for the site are an events centre and several open air spaces.