The O’Connell Street development site known as Dublin Central has been bought by the State from UK property group Hammerson in a surprise move to facilitate the development of MetroLink.Hammerson announced on Wednesday it had sold non-core assets, including multiple holdings in central Dublin, valued at £69m (€80.7m), to Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), the State transport developer. “The central Dublin holdings were sold to Transport Infrastructure Ireland to unlock key infrastructure for the city’s planned Metrolink train system,” it said. “Hammerson has retained certain holdings in Dublin which provide strategic options across development, partnerships and future value realisation.”The 5.5 acre plot, formerly known as the Carlton site, which runs west from O’Connell Street to Moore Street, and north from Henry Street to Parnell Street, was to have been developed as a shopping centre by Hammerson, which has owned the land for a decade.However, the €500 million scheme for the site, parts of which have been vacant and derelict since the 1970s, has been stalled for several years by legal challenges.Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), said it has acquired the site to “support MetroLink construction works and future development planning”.The planning permission for MetroLink, which will run from Swords in north Dublin, to Charlemont, close to Ranelagh in south Dublin and will serve Dublin Airport, included an underground station in O’Connell Street underneath the former Carlton cinema.This station was to have been built with the agreement of Hammerson, according to TII’s planning application for MetroLink which was approved last September. The Hammerson shopping centre, office and residential scheme was to have been developed above.However, while Hammerson secured planning permission for its development from Dublin City Council in 2022, the decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanála. The board upheld the council’s decision, but this was further appealed to the High Court by the Moore Street Preservation Trust, a group involving a number relatives of those involved in the 1916 Rising, and Sinn Féin.[ Department of Transport ‘wants to avoid’ MetroLink costs spiralling like children’s hospitalOpens in new window ]These court proceedings have been ongoing for almost two years.TII chief executive Lorcan O’Connor on Wednesday said the State’s acquisition of the site would “allow us to redevelop this important area for the benefit of the Irish people, while also bringing benefits that will make the construction of MetroLink easier”.He thanked Hammerson for working “constructively with the State to make this agreement possible” and said TII would be working with the new Dublin Task Force, which has a mandate to revitalise the north inner city, and the Land Development Agency (LDA) to develop the overall site.TII has not revealed the purchase price of the site, and it is not yet known if TII and the other State agencies will develop the site in line with the Hammerson scheme or will seek fresh planning permission for a new development.Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien said the site’s acquisition “will be the first chance for many to understand how MetroLink will allow us to improve the public realm and really reimagine what our city looks like”.O’Brien is due to seek approval from Cabinet of updated MetroLink costs by the end of this month to allow TII to go tender for the construction of the 19km line.The last cost estimates for the line, issued by TII when it last submitted its business case for the project to the then government in 2022, ranged from €7.16 billion to €12.25 billion. It is expected the new estimate will be in the region of €16 billion to €18 billion.