EIB lends €85m to Limerick council for urban investment

The site will be transformed with the help of the €85m loan

The European Investment Bank has agreed to lend Limerick city and county council €85 million in what has been described as the largest ever EIB support package for urban investment in Ireland.

The money will be used to start construction on the 1.68 hectare opera centre, a derelict site of Georgian buildings on the city's Patrick and Rutland Street.

It is one of the major urban renewal projects in the Limerick 2030 plan, which aims to transform Limerick city centre with new office, commercial, retail, and residential spaces.

The loan from the EIB is believed to be the first of its kind to a local authority, and the first of a series of supports from the bank to other Irish local authorities to fund urban renewal and development.

The construction of the new opera centre will be sensitive to the Georgian architecture of the property and will preserve buildings of heritage value, but will see the demolition of others not regarded as having social or historical significance.

The opera centre is one of four major construction projects under the 2030 plan.

Construction has already started on the international Gardens site, a €17 million investment of office space, which will accommodate up to 750 workers, along with the old Cleeves site beside the River Shannon.

Work is also under way at the Troy studios site in Castletroy where production is under way on a number of television drama series.

The Chief Executive of Limerick City and County Council said the €85m loan shows "belief" in the city and will allow it to push forward and become a "truly international city".

Mr Conn Murray told RTÉ's News at One that the loan was about revitalising the heart of the city and creating jobs and opportunities for the people of Limerick.

He said the money will give the city the chance to push forward with plans to locate the Revenue Commissioners on the opera centre site.