Nama funded Stillorgan apartments hit rental market

A newly built block of 54 apartments and penthouses at the Grange in south Dublin, funded by the National Asset Management Agency (Nama), has been put on the rental market. Its completion is sure to attract attention from residential property funds who may be hoping that a sale of the units will follow.

The receiver, Grant Thornton, said that Block D has now been completed and the apartments contained within are going to be rented out.

Estate agent Hooke & MacDonald held open viewings at the site earlier this week, with rents starting at €1,475 for a one-bed apartment, up from €1,350 when Block G went on the rental market in 2014, two-beds start at €1,775 a month (up from € 1,700), while three-bed penthouses are available from €3,000 a month (up from €2,750).

The completion of the Emerald building brings the total number of apartments at the development, which also has a commercial element, up to about 560.

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Built by property developer Ray Grehan of Glenkerrin Homes, who paid more than €85 million for the 11.3-acre site in Stillorgan in 2004, a receiver, Grant Thornton was appointed to the development in 2011. Back in 2014, Nama spent about € 14 million completing another block of 120 apartments at the development, which it also put on the rental market.

When the scheme was launched in 2005, prices started at about €425,000 for a one-bed apartment. However, prices still have some way to go to reach those dizzy Celtic Tiger highs; a one-bed apartment at the development recently sold for € 280,000; a two-bed apartment for € 397,500; while a three-bed made €470,000.

Potential sale

But could Nama be priming the site for a sale once all the units are let? According to its website, Nama currently owns 174 units at the Grange and these are “not for sale”. However, it says that “the strategy for maximising the value of the properties involved whether by sale or rent, is determined by the receiver”, and Grant Thornton says that it is “currently assessing options for the remainder of the site”.

A sale of close to 200 apartments in this part of Dublin is likely to attract keen interest given its proximity to the Luas and Sandyford Business Park.

Ires Reit, which owns and lets hundreds of apartments clustered around the Beacon Hospital, has previously expressed interest in the development, noting that bidding for the units would be "competitive". US fund Kennedy Wilson is developing the Vantage up the road in Leopardstown, where a "luxury" two-bed apartment rents for €2,200 a month, while in nearby Dundrum, Hibernia Reit has about 300 apartments rented at Wyckham Point and Dundrum View.

In 2012 Nama financed the completion of 85 apartments at the Gates in Beacon South Quarter, Sandyford, and initially put the units on the rental market before later selling to Ires Reit.