Cardinal Capital chief to bid for Dublin’s Victorian market

Veteran financier Nick Corcoran is preparing a bid for the redevelopment of Dublin's Victorian fruit and vegetable market on Mary's Lane.

While Mr Corcoran is best known as co-founder along with Nigel McDermott of the Cardinal Capital Group, the Dubliner is pursuing the tender for the project in a personal capacity.

Should he be successful, however, it is understood Cardinal Capital will provide financial backing for his plan to transform the 127-year-old wholesale market between Capel Street and Smithfield.

While Mr Corcoran declined to comment when contacted by The Irish Times, a source said the businessman would hope to deliver a proposition that would be both“unique and faithful to the market’s place in Dublin’s history”.

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It is understood Cardinal Capital chief's proposal has already been assessed by the operators of London's world-renowned Borough Market, Berlin's Markthalle Neun, and Copenhagen's Tollehallerne market. Having examined the plan, all three have agreed to provide Corcoran with written endorsements for his submission to Dublin City Council as part of the upcoming tender process.

The council has had permission since 2015 to convert the building into a retail and wholesale market. That plan would have seen half of the property becoming a continental-style food market with producers including butchers, bakers, cheesemongers, fishmongers and greengrocers, while retaining the wholesale businesses in the western half of the market hall.