€10m-plus for residential, retail site on Dorset Street

ApartmentSite: One of the best located redevelopment sites to come on the market in Dublin city centre in recent years - the extensive premises of Mongey Plunkett Motors at Upper Dorset Street, Dublin 2 - will be of interest to a range of commercial and residential developers. Jack Fagan, Property Editor, reports

Tim Scannell of agent Lambert Smith Hampton is quoting a guide price of over €10 million for the 1.45-acre (0.59 hectares) site which goes to tender on June 23rd.

It is likely to be used for a mixed development of retail facilities and apartments.

Good-sized sites in the inner city have been virtually impossible to acquire in recent years because most of them have already been redeveloped for apartments.

The strong swing back to city living, particularly by young people, has created a huge demand for new apartments within walking distance of the city centre.

The Mongey Plunkett site is regular in shape and includes a number of existing buildings including former motor showrooms and service yards.

The property is zoned for "mixed services facilities" in the current Dublin City Development Plan 1999 and has a similar zoning in the draft plan to run from 2005 to 2011.

A feasibility study has proposed that the site could accommodate a mixed use scheme with about 12,800 sq m (137,780 sq ft) of space.

This would include ground floor retailing of 1,300 sq m (14,000 sq ft) along with 104 one, two and three-bedroom apartments and 126 surface car-parking spaces.

One-bed apartments would have 42 to 50 sq m (452-538 sq ft), two- beds would range from 62 to 70 sq m (667-753 sq ft) while three-bed homes would have between 74 and 90 sq m (796-968 sq ft).

Lambert Smith Hampton predicts that one-bedroom apartments would sell for an average of €260,000, two-beds would make around €320,000 while three-bed homes could average around €370,000.

Upper Dorset Street is well located close to the top of O'Connell Street and also close to Gardiner Street and North Circular Road.

It is within easy walking distance of the Ilac Centre which is to be redeveloped by British Land at a cost of around €40 million.