Work has commenced on a new €2 billion urban centre in south Dublin.

The Cherrywood site will eventually provide 8,000 new homes for 30,000 people, The Irish Times reports.

US developer Hines and private-equity firm King Street Capital purchased the 412-acre plot from NAMA and a group of banks for €270 million in 2014. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council had designated the land south of Loughlinstown.

Housing Minister Simon Coveney broke ground on the development on Thursday, and said the Government would announce details of a €200m fund for required infrastructure next month.

Hines also plans to add shops, offices, a cinema and 1,300 apartments to the development. Work on this fully-pedestrianised town centre will employ 3,000 people at peak and cost €875m. It will be raised to the level of the Luas line that passes through, modelled on New York's High Line. 

Hines Ireland senior managing director Brian Moran has confirmed that the company will lodge a planning application for that in late March or early April, with an eye to construction starting in early 2018.

After that, the developers will seek permission for the houses and apartments. 

The Dublin-listed Cairn Homes will build 300 of its own houses on a portion of the Cherrywood site it purchased from Hines for €21.5m.

It also has the option of buying more land there for €9.2m.