Citywest dispute with IDA before Commercial Court

A dispute, in which the owner of the Citywest business campus in west Dublin wants to reacquire IDA Ireland lands for €8.3 million for the development of a digital park at the campus, has come before the Commercial Court.

Citywest Ltd, owner of the west Dublin campus, claims that a key requirement of a joint venture agreement reached in 1999 between it and the IDA for development of the digital park was that the Luas light rail service be extended through the park.

The IDA's failure to agree on how that should be done and failure to cede the lands necessary for that meant that Citywest was entitled to terminate the joint venture agreement and to reacquire IDA lands there for a price of some €8.3 million, it is claimed.

Mr Justice Peter Kelly yesterday admitted the dispute to the list of the Commercial Court, the commercial division of the High Court.

Paul Anthony McDermott, for the IDA, said it believed the application to enter the case into the Commercial Court should be stayed to allow the dispute to be referred to arbitration.

The IDA was anxious not to be exposed to costs which could arise if the action was admitted, he said.

Mr Justice Kelly said the case would not be heard for weeks if it was not admitted to the commercial list and he would admit it. He returned an aspect of the matter for mention next week.

In the proceedings, Citywest Ltd claims that, under the joint venture agreement of July 1999, it and the IDA agreed to make their respective land holdings available for the digital park. Because of the IDA's failure to agree on the extension of the Luas network through the park, Citywest claims it was entitled on May 2nd last to terminate the agreement.

It also claims it is entitled, for a price of €160,000 an acre and a total sum of some €8.3 million, to reacquire from the IDA those lands which were made available for the park.

The IDA contends that Citywest Ltd is not entitled to terminate the joint venture agreement. Filings in the Companies Office show Citywest Ltd is owned equally by Brendan Hickey and Davy director David Shubotham.