Kavanagh walks out of the last bit of action in the IFSC

After making a fortune in the early days of the IFSC, when he had exclusive development rights along with British Land, Mark Kavanagh is walking away from the last bit of the action in the financial centre. He has opted out of the development plans for the huge Stack A building, which is to be turned into a mixed-use venue with shops, leisure facilities and a cultural element. The overall scheme is designed to attract more visitors to this mainly business sector.

Kavanagh and British Land could have taken up their 50 per cent entitlement in Stack A, which was part of their original deal with the Custom House Docks Development Authority. With them out of the picture, the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) is happy to go it alone and plans to spend £20 million (€25.4m) on refurbishing the huge 18th century hall, which has hardly been used since it was the venue for a massive reception to welcome soldiers back from the Crimean War. The DDDA won't have to pick up the full bill for running the cultural centre. Tenants of the one million sq ft of office space will be paying a levy of £750,000 (€952,300) a year between them to keep the show on the road.