Plans for 730 apartments in Dundrum afoot

Developer Lioncor has entered into consultation with An Bord Pleanála

The Carmelite order acquired the 50-acre Gort Muire estate in 1944.

A property development company is scoping out a plan to build 730 apartments, which will be used for the rental market, at lands formerly owned by the Carmelite order in Dundrum.

One Wyckham Land Limited, an entity controlled by Irish house builder Lioncor Developments, has entered into a consultation with An Bord Pleanála to develop the apartments.

Limited information is publicly available as part of the consultation, which was lodged at the end of January and is due to be decided by March 26th. No decision on the plans will be made at the end of this process. Rather, the developer will eventually seek permission for the strategic housing development, which is presently billed to deliver apartments and a creche. After that, it will likely be sold in one lot to a buyer.

The Carmelite order was last year understood to have secured up to €35 million from the sale of eight acres of land attached to its student and novitiate house at Ballinteer.

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Lioncor Developments acquired the Gort Muire site, which was sold without planning permission. However, a feasibility study prepared in advance of the sale suggested it could accommodate more than 400 apartments comprising a mix of one, two and three bedroom units along with retail space.

Gort Muire estate

The site of the proposed development is located to the rear of the Carmelites’ house at Gort Muire and adjacent to St Tiernan’s Community School. It also sits within close proximity to the 636 apartments developed at Wyckham Point and Wyckham Place in the mid-2000s by Gerry Haughey’s Dorville Homes and Galway-based O’Malley Construction, and is within a short distance of Dundrum Town Centre. Both schemes are located on lands that previously formed part of the Carmelite order’s original 50-acre Gort Muire estate acquired in 1944.

Lioncor's portfolio includes Chatham House near Grafton Street in Dublin city centre, prime apartment sites on Merrion Road, Ballsbridge, a new housing scheme on Taney Road, Dundrum, and a boutique housing development named Condor on Killiney's Church Road.

Outside of Dublin, Lioncor is developing the Leana Theas estate in Knocknacarra, Galway, Castlebrook Manor in Castletroy, Limerick, Sallybrook in Co Cork and a scheme in Bray, Co Wicklow.

The company is controlled by US asset manager Oaktree Capital and Alanis Capital, a property investment company backed by the McCormack family of Dublin developers.

Neither Lioncor nor Alanis Capital responded to request for comment.

Peter Hamilton

Peter Hamilton

Peter Hamilton is a contributor to The Irish Times specialising in business