Waterford Development To Create 400 Jobs

Up to 400 construction jobs are to be created with the redevelopment of an old iron foundry in Waterford.

A planning application for the €380m riverside development, which was unveiled yesterday, will be lodged with Waterford City Council within two weeks.

Proposals for the brownfield former Waterford Stanley lands beside the River Suir at Bilberry, are centred on a 32-storey skyscraper, with 395 apartments, 10 floors of offices, a hotel and restaurants.

Developer William Bolster said the project, called Water Haven, would create 400 building jobs during the construction phase and a similar number once complete.

The skyscraper, which would be twice the size of Dublin's Liberty Hall, would include a 'sky view' area with unprecedented views of the city and surrounding counties.

"The taller iconic buildings are also a bold statement about Waterford's ambitions and confidence as gateway to the southeast while it is a plus of our scheme that it will bring a disused former industrial site in to appropriate 21st Century life," Mr Bolster said.

A 15-storey, 156-bedroom hotel, with underground parking and a large conference centre with a capacity of up to 500 delegates, is to be linked at the 10th floor to the taller office and apartment building, under the plans.

Also, plans include a state-of-the-art leisure and fitness centre with gymnasium, spa and swimming pool and marinas with 80 births.

Designers have also facilitated for an extension of the Waterford and Suir Valley Railway to allow the train to run to the site of the former Waterford South railway station at Bilberry.

The brownfield site was identified as an 'opportunity' site in the Waterford City Development Plan 2007-2013.

Work is expected to finish in 2014.

(VB/NS)