Developer David Arnold lost €34m on Foxrock house deal

Property developer David Arnold lost €34 million on an ambitious plan for a residential and retail complex in the upmarket Dublin suburb of Foxrock.

The losses are recording in the accounts of Endlick, the company used by Arnold to buy Gortanore, on Brighton Road, Foxrock, Dublin 4, from Ann Olivia O'Neill, for €31 million in July 2006, with a mortgage from the Bank of Ireland.

The house and grounds, which went back on the market earlier this year with a price tag of €5 million, is understood to have been the company’s only asset.

Accounts just filed for Endlick show a deficit of €34 million.

Local objections
Planning permission for the demolition of the house and the construction of a mixed-use development was granted, subsequent to the purchase, despite the objections of local people.

However, the development did not go ahead and the house, on 2.8 acres, was sold earlier this summer.

The accounts for the year to the end of December last give the property a value of €4.8 million.

Notes to the accounts, which were approved on July 12th, 2013, say the investment property has been sold since year end and that it has been written down to its net realisable value.

Full provision has been made for expected operating losses up to July 13th, 2013, the date the company was expected to cease trading, the accounts also say.

The creditors owed money at the end of 2012 include a bank loan of €32.6 million and debts to group undertakings of €5.89 million. The company is part of the D2 Private group, based in Dublin.

The company could not be contacted for a comment.

Bank loans secured
The accounts say the bank loans are secured with a fixed charge over the property, joint and several guarantees from David Arnold and a former director for €15.5 million, and joint and several guarantees from David Arnold and a former director for €3.3 million.

Mr Arnold and Deirdre Foley were the directors and equal shareholders in D2 Private during 2012 but Mr Arnold resigned from the board in May of this year.

His ordinary shares in the company have been converted to redeemable ordinary shares, company filings show.