Live Nation planning new venue larger than 3Arena in Dublin’s docklands

Live Nation, owner of Ticketmaster and 3Arena, have revealed plans to invest €500 million to build a 20,000 seater music and sports venue in Dublin’s docklands, The Irish Times reports.

The global entertainment company, with partners Oak View Group and Gaiety Investment, struck a €90 million deal to acquire a site in Dublin’s Docklands, which spans almost three hectares.

The new venue is expected to be larger than 3Arena, which seats up to 13,000 attendees.

The land had been owned by Benarman Limited, a company controlled by Jim and Stephen Bennett, of Bennett Construction. The €90 million deal was completed off market.

The site, now known as Merchants Yard, had been used as a commercial storage facility for a number of years.

Ireland is known as one of the most active territories in the world, where it comes to live entertainment, with an extremely high per capita level of ticket sales. Visitors also come to Ireland in numbers to see their favourite artists play in Ireland – with Irish artists from U2, The Corrs and Hozier to Dermot Kennedy, CMAT and Kingfishr among the big draws.

There is little question but that the demand is there for a larger venue in the capital – which might have the added benefit of reducing the number of nights touring acts would need to spend in Ireland. 3Arena has been enormously busy over the past three years, with numerous Irish acts, including Amble, Kingfishr, and Dermot Kennedy ranking among the major successes to have played there recently.

A spokeswoman for Live Nation, which was represented by Savills Ireland on the transaction, confirmed to The Irish Times that it has acquired the site.

“Live Nation, Oak View Group and Gaiety Investments are in the early stages of plans to develop a new world-class entertainment venue at the recently acquired Brick Yards site in Dublin,” she said.

“Dublin is a vibrant, culturally rich capital with an unrivalled passion for live entertainment and a long history of welcoming artists and fans from around the globe. The city continues to see growing demand for major live events and remains one of Europe’s most important touring markets.

“The partners look forward to working closely with local stakeholders, Government officials and the community as plans develop, with the aim of further strengthening Dublin’s position as a leading international destination for live music and culture.”

Live Nation formed a new company in Ireland last month called Live Nation Brickyards Limited. €35.4 million has been put into the company by investors to date. According to the Irish Times report, Live Nations contributed €15.9 million, which was matched by the firm Brickyards Property Holdings Limited. Gaiety Investments Unlimited Company also provided €3.5 million.

Brickyards Property Holdings Limited is controlled by entertainment executive Chris Granger, who is CEO of the Oakview Group (and a fan of Stoke City!). Granger has worked extensively with sports teams and franchises in the USA, in both basketball and baseball.