Over €45 million for Foxrock site

Development Land: One of the last large tracts of land in Foxrock could accommodate around 100 houses, writes Jack Fagan

A development site of 13.14 acres behind some of the finest houses on Brighton Road in Foxrock, Dublin 18, is to be offered for sale by tender on October 5th.

Joint agents McNally Handy and Fergus Slattery & Associates are quoting a guide price of over €45 million for what is one of the last remaining large tracts of development land in the Foxrock area.

The site is partially wooded and has been assembled by four local families who have lived on Brighton Road for many years. The development plan describes the site as a conservation area with an Objective A zoning "to protect and/or improve residential amenity".

The site looks down over Brighton Road and backs on to the old Harcourt Street railway line and Leopardstown Racecourse at the rear. It has three separate entrances, two of them along old laneways to what was the original estate. The third entrance, close to Foxrock village, will be along part of the newly acquired grounds of Coolhaven, a detached family home on about two acres.

The expectation is that about 12 acres of the site will be developed for housing.

John McNally of McNally Handy estimates that the planners are likely to allow between eight and 10 houses per acre. If that proves correct, the site could accommodate around 100 houses.

With site costs in the area likely to be around €500,000 per unit, the land is thought to have a value of at least €50 million.

However, the task of securing planning permission in one of south Dublin's most exclusive residential areas could involve lengthy negotiations with planners and neighbours.

This is unlikely to dissuade several of the leading developers who will be aware of the immense potential of the site and the pent up demand for houses in the Foxrock area, particularly from the sons or daughters of families living there.

At present, these potential buyers have little chance of finding a home in Foxrock as most of the houses that come on the market are well outside their price range.

New housing developments have been few and far between in recent years. Michael Cotter's Park Developments is currently marketing one of the final phases of Kelston at the junction of Leopardstown Road and Stillorgan Road. Two-bedroom apartments there cost from €590,000. Closer to Foxrock village, the last four homes in Sean Dunne's top notch Hollybrook scheme are available at prices from €900,000 for two-bedroom apartments to €2.5 million for a 279sq m (3,000sq ft) duplex home.