Irish link to new US outpost

SOME GOOD news for one Irish developer this week with the US State Department signing a conditional agreement with Seán Mulryan’s Ballymore to acquire a five-acre site for a new embassy in his Nine Elms Opportunity Area in London’s Wandsworth.

“I’m excited about America playing a role in the regeneration of the south bank of London,” said Ambassador Robert Tuttle.

We’re sure he’s not half as excited as Mulryan who is believed to have spent about £160 million assembling a 21-acre site between Battersea Power Station and New Covent Garden Market.

This would indicate a price of about £38 million on the five acres he sold, although property prices have gone south recently.

Mulryan won’t be hanging the flags out just yet. The deal is conditional on US Congress approval, and we all now how tricky that can be to secure. It also needs planning approval. The move might not happen for five years.

The US ambassador now plans to put his current pad at Grosvenor Square up for sale.

Reports of the possible sale of the London embassy broke more than a year ago, at which point it was expected to fetch about £300 million given its plum location. Since then, prices have plunged and it could now be worth less than £200 million. Ouch.

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times