Limerick City and County Council is seeking expressions of interest in the multi-million euro Opera Centre site.
The re-developed 50,000 sq metre area will cater for 3,000 jobs when it is finised.
The €80 million to €100 million site will provide for a mix of office, educational, retail and residential uses over a five year period, commencing over the next 18 months.
It will be the biggest city centre real estate project outside of Dublin over the next 10 years.
The project is part of the Limerick 2030 economic plan. “It will transform a key area of the city centre and act as a catalyst for other investment in Limerick becoming a commercial, cultural and social hub,” said the council’s chief executive Conn Murray.
“The city’s economic renewal as envisaged in Limerick 2030 is already happening at pace with 5,000 jobs alone in the city centre planned across seven strategic sites, but the Opera Centre development will be the most significant accelerant of all.”
The council expects the process of selecting a joint venture partner will take a number of months and will be followed by the planning stage. Construction is expected to begin in 2017.
Limerick Economic Forum chairman Denis Brosnan said project will trigger an economic shift in the city centre.
“The publication of the request for expressions of interest is a line in the sand for the overall project, one that will deliver enormous benefit for Limerick and the wider region,” he said.
