Controversial building for sale at knockdown price

The Kube commercial building at Thorn Road, Letterkenny.

One of Letterkenny’s best-known buildings is to go under the hammer at a knock-down price for the second time in thirteen months, the Donegal News has learned.
The Kube building, Thorn Road, is being brought to market in the latest BidX1 online property auction, with a reserve price of €420,000.
The news comes three weeks after the family of well-known Letterkenny contractor Brendan Gildea confirmed that the building was ‘back open for business’.
Five enterprises have since opened within The Kube with negotiations ongoing with a further three businesses.
The 15,000 sq ft premises was built by Mr Gildea before it was taken over by a receiver appointed by Danske Bank which was owed millions by Mr Gildea’s company.
In November 2016 the receiver got High Court orders against Mr Gildea before up to seventy gardaí were deployed in the operation to secure possession of the building.
At the time the premises had only one tenant, Donegal County Council’s Central Laboratory, which occupied the second floor.
Speaking to the Donegal News yesterday, Wednesday, a spokesman for The Helping Hands group, said they were ‘confused’ by the latest attempt to sell the property which is owned by Mr Gildea.
“It was stated in court by the receiver last year that the property had been sold and paid for.
“The information that we have is that the receiver, Martin Ferris, is now trying to sell the property on behalf of Brendan Gildea. How can that happen if he has already stated in court that it has been sold and paid for?
“Unless Mr Gildea gives his consent they cannot force him to sell and, believe me, he’s not about to give his consent,” the spokesman said.
The Helping Hands is a group that helps people to deal with bank debt, fight against repossessions and receiverships.
“The Kube is operating as a viable commercial operation and it has tenants with a further three people making enquiries in the past week or so,” he said.
When contacted on Wednesday, Ms Anna-Kate Fields, Senior Surveyor with BidX1 said that she was not at liberty to name the vendor.
“We are instructed by a private individual and due to data protection we cannot release further details,” Ms Fields said.
Described as a modern three-storey office investment, the property is arranged over ground and two upper floors to provide a detached office building.

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