Kennedy Wilson to focus on development

Real estate fund Kennedy Wilson is still actively looking for property deals in the Irish market but the managing director of its European business said yesterday it had begun to focus on developing assets it had acquired over the past two years.

Since acquiring Bank of Ireland’s real-estate business in 2011, Kennedy Wilson emerged as one of the more active purchasers of property in the Republic as a recovery began to take hold in some parts of the market.

Peter Collins, managing director of its European business, told the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland annual conference yesterday it planned to "grow its portfolio through targeted acquisition" and continue to invest in its existing assets.

Speaking before addressing the conference, Mr Collins told The Irish Times the fund would continue buying properties once the right opportunities arose. "We are actively looking," he said.

He confirmed the fund planned to build 320 apartments at two high-profile sites in Dublin. It intended developing 160 of them at Clancy Quay, the Islandbridge complex it bought in 2013, which already has 420 units.

“Hopefully we will be going on site next year to start building work,” he added.

The fund also planned to build a similar number of apartments at Central Park, in Sandyford in Dublin.