LAST Wednesday Leopardstown Racecourse hosted two meetings in its owners and trainers facility on the first floor of the grandstand.

The morning session was attended by local representatives and in the afternoon came racing industry stakeholders. They were there to learn more about Horse Racing Ireland’s ambitious plans for Leopardstown and to give HRI their own views on how the 260-acre site should be developed.

A day before those meetings took place Paul Dermody, chief executive of HRI Racecourses, talked us through the possibilities.

Give us the background to the Leopardstown masterplan.

PD: Leopardstown is an enormous site and very active. It has the most uses of any racecourse in the country in terms of non-raceday revenue streams, between tenants like WestWood, McGuirks and Super Social, the golf driving range, and employee parking for Microsoft and Amigen.

Leopardstown is a flagship racecourse for the industry, nationally and globally. My number one priority is to put in place a long-term vision for how we’re going to evolve the site for the next generation.

About 25 years ago Leopardstown gave up its sprint track to the M50 and in return gained 50 acres, which was a really important deal at the time.

Over the years we’ve made some attempts to develop different parcels of the site but in 2021 we started the plan for the entire site which would retain racing at its core.

How much of Leopardstown’s land has been taken by the Land Development Agency (LDA) for housing?

PD: We had long, protracted and intense negotiations with the LDA over four years. When the discussion started they were taking 50 acres and giving us nothing. We ended up selling them 17 acres but, far more important than the money, the terms of the agreement state that the rest of the site will not be touched. We were given that assurance in the Taoiseach’s office on May 14th.

So what happens next?

PD: Having gotten over that hurdle we can now start canvassing opinions of tenants, sponsors, local communities and businesses, and ask them what is it you want to see?

There is a promotional video and report on the Leopardstown website which mentions plans for a hotel and an arena or concert venue. Are they just ideas or are they definitely going to be part of it?

PD: We’re expecting some element of the unknown to come out of this week’s meetings, where people will come up with an idea that we haven’t thought of, and we’ll absolutely put it into the hopper and see how we can build it in. But then there are other things that we fully expect to be suggested.

The hotel is a good example. We know, from talking to the local councilors, that there is demand for another hotel in the area. So I fully expect that in Q1 of this year we’ll go out to market, to the hotel operators of the world, to see who’s interested. Then we will move through a tender process with a business case that works for Leopardstown and, if that came off, a hotel would then be part of the masterplan. Horse Racing Ireland’s remit is to run racing, so if there are complimentary activities we will talk to people in that business and find a way to get that revenue stream back into racing.

Are you planning to upgrade the racing facilities?

PD: The masterplan could take 10-15 years to come to fruition but in the short-term our priority will be primarily around the racing facilities and the racing enclosure.

I’ll give you an example of that. Across Christmas we had around 20,000 people here each day. The weather was beautiful and we knew we had the facilities to cope with those crowds. Now if it had been lashing rain it would have been a different scenario.

The total area of the public enclosures at Leopardstown is 12,800 square metres. To put that in context, Punchestown has 37,000 square metres, and Galway has 22,000 square metres. Space is very tight here.

That’s one of the reasons we have capped attendance at the Dublin Racing Festival at 18,500 each day. That’s not high enough for the only racecourse in the capital city. But if we’re going to stretch our capacity we’re going to have to be creative, and that’s one of our short-term objectives.

The mission for the industry is to tell us which raceday facilities need to be evolved or adjusted. This week’s meetings are only the start. I expect that stakeholders will form focus groups to get into the detail of what they want.

Will racing be interrupted by the development?

PD: The short answer is no. We don’t envisage any challenges around reducing the racing programme or it impacting on raceday attendances. But until we know exactly what it is we’re going to address, it’s impossible to say.

How is it all going to be funded?

PD: I mentioned the LDA land sale. I think it’s in the public domain that we did not get market value for the land that we sold, because legislation bars that, but we got a significant sum, nonetheless. However it’ll be nowhere near what’s required for what we’re talking about here, but that’s why we’re looking at what other new or incremental businesses or revenue streams can fund the next stage.

There are other things which we may need to put in the plan which are not commercial but may be conditions of planning. Things like greenways and cycleways and new bridges across the M50. It’s very much a long-term plan and we will need a very different mix of funding to be able to meet those demands.

Could this project drain funds away from other racecourses?

PD: Leopardstown has not taken funding from HRI to this point and we don’t envision the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund being in the conversation because this is much bigger.

We commissioned Tony Foley in DCU to conduct an economic impact study for Leopardstown. The racecourse is currently generating €60 million in economic activity and he conservatively estimates that this will double.

Could private investors get involved, like at the Curragh?

PD: The private sector will absolutely be involved in new commercial opportunities but I don’t envisage any private investors being involved in the running of racing.

It’s a risky project. Is there a chance the racecourse could be lost if it fails?

PD: I would flip it the other way and say that there is more of a danger by doing nothing than by doing something. We have boxed off the residential requirement. It’s now on us to bring forward the rest, because nobody else is going to put that level of stewardship over racing, only ourselves.

The LDA says it wants to build 1,000 homes on the 17 acres it acquired from Leopardstown. How will that affect racing?

PD: We’d be very confident that it won’t affect racing in any shape or form, given the geographical location of it - down in the very southern end. In fact there could be a benefit because it may prompt the transport authorities to open a new Luas stop [between Ballyogan Wood and Carrickmines]. The platform is already there but it’s never been opened.

So what are the next steps?

PD: First we consult with stakeholders then we move into market engagement, like testing the market for a hotel, as I explained. We’ve already completed our procurement process for all the key skill sets we need: development, management, architects, engineers, planners. So we will then start to brief them in terms of pulling together that plan.

Then we will move into the planning application stage with Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown. In terms of planning, the way it’s going to work is that the plan for the whole 50 acres needs to be submitted as one overarching planning permission application from HRI and the LDA jointly. The LDA will apply for residential permission for their 17 acres and we will apply for the other bits, whatever those other bits may be.

I think it’s fair to say that, having done the deal with the LDA, our brand equity, if you like, with the County Council is very strong. We’d like to think that they see not only what we’ve contributed to solving the housing crisis, but also what we think we can bring to the county in the future.

Our plan will go through the planning process and - I’m using the LDA estimates now - they are saying they will be ready to have residents move in by 2030.

What will success look like for

Leopardstown in 10 or 20 years’ time?

PD: Ultimately, the number one goal is that there is an enclosure and racing facility that is up there with the best in the world. You’ll see at the Dublin Racing Festival our dependence on temporary facilities. That’s something we need to try and address.

It’s 55 years since Leopardstown’s grandstand was built. In that time a whole city has grown up around it. For practical reasons, we’ve built up high walls to protect the site. Is it now time to lower those walls? Make Leopardstown more permeable, make it more accessible, and get the benefit of it as well?

So the community might get walkways and cycleways. We might also get to turn what is now our enclosure into a seven-days-a-week hub with coffee shops and restaurants. Look how popular Orby’s by Lucy is at the Curragh. Why couldn’t we do the same here? There are thousands of people working close to Leopardstown every day with nowhere to go for a break.

We’re now at a point where Leopardstown can become a proper community partner. This is where it starts to get exciting.

Web: leopardstown.com/masterplan