Bryan Cullen pays back Nama debt linked to Jackson Homes

House builder Bryan Cullen has cleared debt to Nama linked to his Jackson Homes business through the sale of property in Dublin.

Accounts recently filed by Jackson Homes show that it owed creditors, the biggest of which was Nama, almost €27 million in December 2015, while net liabilities were €19.25 million.

However, it is understood that Mr Cullen has since paid this debt, which was effectively his, using the proceeds of the sale of 100 homes in Stillorgan, Dublin, for about €24 million. He remains a Nama debtor.

The Jackson Homes accounts say the company owed directors €9.11 million, but they were not seeking its repayment. Bryan and Orla Cullen and Kevin O'Nolan are the directors named in company returns.

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The notes to the accounts said it was relying on the support of the State agency and its directors to continue as a going concern and said this would be forthcoming.

They also show that its operations lost €3.18 million during the year and had stocks of more than €7 million. Jackson Homes built houses for Mr Cullen’s property development business.

Property loans

Mr Cullen was part of the second group of developers whose property loans Nama took over in 2010, shortly after it formally began operating.

His business was focused on building and selling houses in Dublin's suburbs, mostly in southside areas, although it was involved in a development in Finglas.

Its projects included Bloomfield in Donnybrook and Beechwood Court in Stillorgan, a 101-apartment complex that Nama sold to Marathon Asset Management in 2015 along with other similar developments for €116 million.

The developer's Precinct Investments bought Dublin's Gresham Hotel in 2004 from Ryan Hotels for €117 million. Nama subsequently took control of that property and sold it this year for €92 million to Spain's Riu group.

Precinct saw off a competition in early 2004 from Israeli group Red Sea International in a bidding war that attracted a lot of attention at the time. However, the Gresham suffered along with the rest of the Irish hotel industry as visitor numbers collapsed after 2007.

The market has since recovered and Dublin now suffers from a shortage of hotels. Riu described the Irish capital as one of the "most interesting" in Europe for investment after it closed Gresham deal last summer.

Nama did not comment yesterday.