Ulster Bank to put 1,850 acres of Dublin development land on sale

The Ulster Bank is planning to offer for sale 1,850 acres of residential development land in Dublin in a renewed attempt to offload distressed loans to housebuilders.

The bank will seek buyers for a portfolio of loans covering 32 housing sites which account for 17 per cent of all residential zoned land in the Dublin area.

The Project Clear portfolio is to be broken into three tranches, each having what the bank terms a “cornerstone” asset.

The first tranche will be dominated by a large landbank at Adamstown in west Dublin where about 1,500 of the planned 7,000 homes have so far been built by Castlethorn Developments and Maplewood Developments.

Another key site will be the nine acres at Cross Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin, which were bought along with a period house at the top of the market in 2004 by Myles Crofton for €47 million.

In north Dublin, a top-rated site thought to extend to about 80 acres at Portmarnock is expected to be included in the sale along with land at Charlestown in Greystones.

Land prices fell by as much as 90 per cent after the property crash but have since recovered by 40 to 50 per cent in popular Dublin locations.