RQB's Sawgrass plans approved

Planners in Florida have given Irish investment vehicle RQB the green light to expand its ambitious hotel, leisure and residential project at Sawgrass, which will now cost $900 million to develop.

RQB has been given the go-ahead by commissioners in St Johns County in Florida to add 160 bedrooms to its Marriott Hotel and to build an additional 320 condominiums at the site and at nearby Cabana Beach.

This new planning permission represents a significant boost to RQB and its backers - property developer Paddy Kelly, financier Niall McFadden and Paul Pardy, formerly of Anglo Irish Bank.

The Sawgrass resort is now set to comprise 400 luxury condos, 29,000sq ft of retail space, and a top-class hotel and spa with more than 500 bedrooms.

The gross development value of the project has almost doubled from the original spend of $550 million as a result of the new planning. The planning permission to extend the Sawgrass resort was granted at the end of October. Appeals can be lodged within 30 days.

RQB plans to complete the development by 2011. RQB's resort is located beside two championship golf courses that are well known to golf fans around the world. Sawgrass plays host each year to the Players' Championship, which is regarded as the sport's fifth major.

RQB has secured a deal with the golf course owners that give its guests access to the majority of tee times available at Sawgrass.

RQB's decision to expand the Sawgrass resort comes at a time when the property market in the United States has been rocked by the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

With many international banks recording large losses from the subprime crisis, financial institutions have squeezed lending.

Sources close to RQB said it was confident that it could secure funding for its ambitious expansion plans at Sawgrass.

RQB is also active in the UK. It recently entered into a joint venture with Seán Ryan's Ballymore Homes to develop a 16-acre site in London's docklands. The pair will shortly lodge an application to build 153,000sq m of apartments in a £1 billion scheme at a site in the Royal Docks area.

RQB is reported to have paid about €200 million to buy into the scheme. A £50 million equity fundraising by RQB for the project is expected to close in the next fortnight.