DÚN LAOGHAIRE-Rathdown County Council is to add an unfinished building in Sandyford to its derelict sites register, following an inspection that revealed serious safety concerns.
The 13-storey Sentinel apartment blockwas being built by Cork-based Fleming Construction until work was abandoned after the crash. The debts associated with it ended up in Nama, which recently sold the site to a foreign buyer.
It is on the former Allegro site, bought by Fleming in November 2005 for €165 million from a consortium consisting of Treasury Holdings, financier Derek Quinlan and developer David Arnold a week after they got permission to build 880 apartments there.
Fine Gael councillor Barry Saul said the Sentinel had been left unfinished for a number of years and he was happy that council officials had agreed to write to the new owners and request a copy of a recent structural report on the safety of the tower.
“Given the recent tragedy where a young boy lost his life in Co Westmeath on an unfinished site, it is vital that the council investigate the safety of this site and to make sure the owners are carrying out their legal responsibilities with regard to its safety,” Mr Saul said.
Further inspections of the skeletal Sentinel building are to be carried out by the council after its dangerous buildings inspector confirmed the site had been secured.
Under the Derelict Sites Act, the owners of a property on the register must pay 3 per cent of its market value in the first year and up to 10 per cent each year afterwards until it is “non-derelict”.
