Over €10m for 11-acre site in Maynooth

DevelopmentLand: Lands which could serve as the gateway into Maynooth from the M4 motorway have come on the market.

About half the 11-acre site is zoned under a very general heading, leaving developers free to get the most from the location. The joint agents have set a guide of over €10 million for the land.

About 5.3 acres of the 11-acre site is zoned "general development", which is suitable for residential, retail, offices and leisure. While it carries this unusually open zoning under the Maynooth Development Plan 2002, the original zoning dates back to a 1985 development plan, says joint agent, Will Coonan of Coonan Real Estate Alliance.

"It is zoned general which is very open," he said. When given this designation, planners tended to leave decision making on what is to be built in the hands of the developers, he says. "Now they zone land with more specific uses in mind," says Coonan. "It is a very unusual zoning to have."

A planning permission exists on part of the zoned lands for a garage/showroom. The remainder of the site has no zoning and is situated against the development boundary along the M4 motorway.

The location has extensive road frontage and is about a mile from Maynooth Main Street. The local Arrow train station is about 500 metres from the site.

"There is a high probability it will be sold for residential but I think it will end up mixed-use," says Coonan. "Around the site you have high density residential developments with townhouses and apartments close to it."

For this reason, the area is well serviced by amenities, such as schools, sport and leisure facilities, and a range of shops, including the new Manor Mills shopping centre. The potential of the site is strengthened by its situation in a prime residential area of north Kildare, Coonan says.

He believes the site has potential for another reason: "It is really the gateway to Maynooth when you exit the motorway. It is quite a significant piece of ground in so far as it sets the tone for the town generally."

Given its general zoning, he sees the possibility of introducing a signature building with the remainder of the site going residential, for example.

Joint agents are Property Partners Brady. Both predict strong demand for the site which goes to sale by tender on May 31st.