Dublin City Council has announced that retail development may be used to fund the regeneration of housing estates following the collapse of a Public Private Partnership scheme with developer Bernard McNamara.
A report due to be considered by councillors states that while the residential market is depressed the location of St Michael's Estate, O'Devaney Gardens and Dominick Street complexes could attract commercial development.
Assistant city manager Ciaran McNamara stated in the report that it has been necessary to redefine the vision for each area in the changed economic environment.
He said the total cost for regenerating all three estates is calculated at €95m over ten years.
Mr McNamara said full details of the report by a special task force set up following the collapse of the PPP projects will be presented to councillors next Monday.
Meanwhile, it has also been announced that Dublin City Council intends to apply for €100m to fund housing loans under the Government's Home Choice scheme.
The scheme was set up by the Government in the Budget to help first-time buyers get mortgages and will cover 92% of the purchase cost of a newly built house up to a maximum of €285,000.
Dublin City Council will be administering the scheme through the counties of Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare and Louth while local authorities in Cork, Galway and Kilkenny will be covering the rest of the country.
So far around 9,000 prospective home buyers have expressed an interest in the scheme, which is under the overall control of the Housing Finance Agency.
It is expected to start processing applications next week.
