€5m guide for O'Connell Street townhouse

GeorgianDublin: The last remaining Georgian townhouse along Upper O'Connell Street in Dublin 1 has come on the market and with it a rare opportunity to combine the old and the new.

The extensive site already has full planning permission for a third generation office development to the rear and also benefits from 100 per cent capital allowances for construction costs.

Number 42 Upper O'Connell Street is next door to the Royal Dublin Hotel and Finnegan Mention and CB Richard Ellis are selling the property by tender on November 11^th.

It carries a guide price over €5 million for the freehold.

Full planning has already been granted for the refurbishment of Number 42 and the construction of a modern office extension with a glazed link to the Georgian house.

An additional striking feature of the package is the inclusion of the ornate Victorian assembly hall known as the O’Connell Hall within the modern office structure.

The building is designated for tax incentives under the O’Connell Street Area Action Plan. This provides 100 per cent capital allowances on the construction cost of both the new building and the refurbishment.

Owner occupiers can offset these allowances against personal or trading income while investors can offset the allowances against all Irish rental income.

Last June the Royal Dublin Hotel announced its intention to undertake an €8 million restoration of the building and construction of the office element, planning to either lease or sell on the property. It no longer wants to pursue this option and hence the fresh opportunity being made available to the highest tender bidder.

"It is a fabulous Georgian building," says Mr Nicholas Corson of Finnegan Mention. "You don’t expect it to be as good as it is when you walk in."

The existing Georgian structures total about 1,021 sq m (11,000 sq ft) and retain many striking features. Number 42 was designed by the eminent architect Richard Castle.

The high first floor ceilings feature magnificent stucco work by Robert West, who worked on Leinster House and Carton and Powerscourt Houses.

A grand staircase connects the large principal rooms on the ground floor and first floor.

The total net office area when the development is completed will extend to about 1,858 sq m (20,000 sq ft). The rear extension will have a glass tube lift overlooking the courtyard between the new and old buildings, and the O’Connell Hall will sit inside the new structure.

"That is going to be encased and built over and become part of the new building," Mr Corson said.

The combination of the gracious Georgian house and the modern extension will provide a wonderful headquarters building for a corporate office occupier or might be of interest to an educational institute, an embassy or a professional body or association.

Any of these uses will benefit from the ongoing revamp of O’Connell Street. The action plan has brought the Spire and the grand civic plaza to the front of the GPO.

The Carlton site is just a few doors further down the street and once that development is completed, the refurbishment of Upper O’Connell Street will be fionished.

The Royal Dublin next door is also in for a refit after it was granted planning for a new facade and new bedrooms in a €14 million refurbishment.

Number 42 has something of a history aside from its august 18^th century beginnings. The building was thought to have been hit by three shells during the 1916 Rising and was occupied during the civil war.

Miraculously it survived the 1960s cull of Georgian buildings removed to allow for the neighbouring hotel and other developments on Upper O'Connell Street, and Number 42 looks set for a rebirth in the 21^st century.

The building will be offered for sale by tender on Thursday, November 11^th.