Johnny Ronan, the former head of Treasury Holdings, has made the shortlist to buy Project Wave, a strategic 2.35 acre site in Dublin's north docklands.

Ballymore Properties, the development firm led by Sean Mulryan, is also believed to be among the bidders. Hines, the $50 billion investment fund, was interested in acquiring the site but it is unclear if it has made the final shortlist.

Located close to the proposed new headquarters of the Central Bank of Ireland, the site is being sold by the National Asset Management Agency under an "agreement for lease" arrangement.

Sale terms

Under the terms of the sale Nama will retain the freehold interest on the site in order to generate an income stream both during the site’s development from the purchaser and afterwards by agreeing a profit-share with the site’s developer. The site has the potential to be a centre for marine finance, a plan billionaire Denis O’Brien has previously suggested would be suitable for the docklands. A spokesman for Mr O’Brien did not respond to requests for comment.

Comeback

The emergence of Mr Ronan with backing of an unknown partner is the latest move in his comeback. He was reported earlier this month to be among the final five bidders to buy Project Cherry, a portfolio of 400 acres including office blocks and land for development in Cherrywood, south Dublin.

Mr Ronan is also involved in a consortium involving leading developer Paddy McKillen to develop a site in Dublin 4 along with Colony Capital, a multibillion fund and Development Securities, a British plc.

Separately, Ronan is also involved in ongoing negotiations to payback his personal company debts of hundreds of millions to Nama. In June a "source close to the developer" was quoted in the Sunday Independent as saying: "This will be the first time a guy has paid back everything at par." The current status of these talks however is unknown.