Starwood lined up as preferred bidder to buy Elm Park development

US investment fund Starwood has emerged as the preferred bidder for Elm Park, the vast office and residential development on Merrion Road, Dublin 4, which is being sold on behalf of Nama.

Starwood has bid close to €200 million for the portfolio which was developed just before the property crash at a cost of around €550 million.

The runner-up was Joe O’Reilly’s Chartered Land and its partner US-based Ares Investment Funds.

The 17.3-acre complex is producing a rental income of €9.5 million from two fully let office blocks and two apartment buildings.

A five- to eight-storey building along the front of the site, planned as a 168-bedroom hotel and a daycare centre, is likely to be converted for office use in view of the shortage of high-density space on the south side of the city. The block is expected to bring in an additional €6 million-plus in rental income when let.

Elm Park was developed in 2007 by Bernard McNamara, Jerry O'Reilly and the late David Courtney.

The sale is being handled by DTZ Sherry FitzGerald and Savills.