THE NATIONAL Asset Management Agency yesterday took control of another 16 properties that have debts involving developer Paddy Kelly.

Estate agent Savills has been appointed as “property receiver” to 15 of the assets while Kieran Wallace of KPMG has been appointed as receiver to two suites at a hotel in Liffey Valley in Dublin.

This is the second phase of enforcement by Nama against Mr Kelly. In March, it took control of 15 properties that had debts involving him.

At that time, Mr Wallace was appointed as statutory receiver to nine hotels and suites of rooms, while Savills was appointed as property receiver to a number of non-hotel assets.

The assets that Nama has moved on this time include offices in Sandyford and Deansgrange in Dublin and three pubs – Greys of Newmarket, The Chancery Inn and The Legal Eagle, opposite the Four Courts.

It also includes 32 acres in Kilkenny, 61 acres in Ashford, Co Wicklow and sites in Trim, Co Meath, and Lusk, Co Dublin. A property at Pembroke Road in Dublin and a site in Mount Usher in Wicklow are also involved.

Most of these assets are believed to involve groups of investors put together by Mr Kelly to avail of tax breaks. While property receivers are widely used in the UK, they are not common in Ireland. Nama has chosen to go this route as it represents a potentially cheaper option than using traditional insolvency practitioners.

No comment was available from either Nama or Mr Kelly yesterday.

In March, Mr Wallace was given control of the following hotels: the Marriott in Ashbourne, Co Meath; the Days Inn on Talbot Street, Dublin; the Clarion hotels in the IFSC, Dublin airport, Liffey Valley and Limerick; and the Maldron in Citywest, Dublin.

He also took control of suites at the Maldron Hotels in Cardiff Lane, Dublin, and Limerick city.

Savills took charge of a number of other assets. Among them is the Smurfit Kappa head office in Clonskeagh, a land bank in Drimnagh and units in Smithfield, including shops operated by Paddy Power and Polonez.