Harold's Cross site likely to set record price at auction

A new auction record of about £8 million is likely to be set next Wednesday for a housing site at Harold's Cross Greyhound Racing Stadium, in Dublin 6, while on the northside another parcel of development land at Malahide Road, Co Dublin, is expected to make in excess of £10 million. Joint agents DTZ Sherry FitzGerald and French Estates are handling the sale of the 32 acres at Malahide Road, which is zoned for both residential and commercial use. It is due to be sold at tender on June 10th.

Next Wednesday, Bord na gCon seems certain to secure about £8 million at auction for 81 ready-to-go housing sites alongside the race track. At least half a dozen housebuilders have expressed an interest in the 4.86-acre site which has full planning permission for mainly large four-bedroom semi and detached homes. A price of £8.1 million would equate to a value of £100,000 per site but, according to James Meagher DTZ Sherry FitzGerald, developers could still expect a return of at least 10 per cent if the houses sell for an average of £250,000 each.

The previous highest price at a Dublin auction was the £6.4 million paid by Hardwicke for an office site of under two acres at Hatch Street. There should also be strong interest in the land at Malahide Road which has frontage on to a second road, Clare Hall Road. About 10 acres along Malahide Road will probably be used for a housing scheme. The remainder is expected to have a wide range of uses including retail warehousing, offices and motor services. It is planned to sell the land either in its entirety or in two lots - the 10 acres for housing and the balance for commercial developments.

Mr Meagher says that whoever buys the site will have to supply Dublin Corporation with an overall action plan for the 32 acres. This would probably provide for a comprehensive development of houses on one portion of the land and a mixture of commercial buildings on the remainder. Following the publication of the new guidelines on housing densities, Mr Meagher said it seems likely that up to 15 homes per acre could possibly be allowed because of their proximity to a high quality road and bus system.

The land adjoins Clare Hall, a development of over 1,000 houses completed about a year ago by Manor Park Homes.