Two housing development sites for sale

DevelopmentLand: 22.2 acres of development land for sale at Palmerston in west Dublin is likely to make €17m, while a 5.74-acre site in the grounds of Glencairn, Sandyford, could make over €19m. Property Editor Jack Fagan reports

With the new homes market in Dublin still extremely buoyant, there is likely to be strong interest in two development sites coming on the market this week beside St Loman's Hospital in Palmerston, Dublin 20, and also in the grounds of Glencairn in Sandyford, Dublin 18, where the British Ambassador's residence is still located.

The Eastern Regional Health Board is likely to secure around €17 million at tender on April 28th for the 22.2 acres at Palmerston, directly opposite the Hermitage Golf Club. A day later, on Thursday April 29th, a 5.74-acre site being rezoned for housing in Sandyford is likely to make over €19 million, according to the joint selling agents.

The Palmerston site is zoned for residential use and is likely to accommodate at least 15 units per acre. It is located between the N4 national primary route and the new St Loman's distributor road.

The site would ideally suit a mixture of houses and apartments and though an adjoining site, also sold by the health board, was developed in recent years by Michael Whelehan's Maplewood Homes, he is likely to have more competition this time round because of the immense scarcity of zoned land in good locations.

Only two weeks ago, a little known Galway developer paid an average of €120,000 per site at Oldtown demesne near Naas. New homes on the Palmerston land would be clearly aimed at the first- time buyer market where there is a particularly strong demand for both three and four-bed semis - house types that have become extremely scarce since the State adopted a high density policy and opened the way for builders to concentrate on apartments and duplex units.

The Palmerston land is conveniently located close to Liffey Valley Shopping Centre and also Lucan town centre with its great variety of shops, bars and restaurants.

The proceeds of the sale will be used the fund the redevelopment and refurbishment of St Loman's Hospital, which is being retained on a site of 9.2 acres.

DTZ Sherry FitzGerald, which is handling the sale, is also joint agent along with Hamilton Osborne King on the marketing of the Sandyford site which formed part of Glencairn, the large mansion and extensive grounds bought from the British Foreign Office by Michael Cotter's Park Developments.

He subsequently sold on the 5.74 acres to a new Galway-based consortium TBD Properties. No sooner had it secured planning permission to develop 34,852 sq m (375,143 sq ft) of office accommodation in four three to seven-storey blocks, but the office market took a nose dive.

A recovery is unlikely for several years because of the volume of vacant space overhanging the market but luckily for TBD, the planners have provided for the rezoning of the site for housing in the draft development plan due to be voted on at the end of April.

Several other developers who had geared up to embark on large office developments in the Dublin area are reconsidering the residential option rather than waiting around for years until the office market recovers.

Because the TBD site occupies a pivotal position near the junction of Murphystown Road and the Sandyford interchange of the South Eastern Motorway - not to mention a new LUAS station - the general consensus is that whoever buys it will get planning permission for a high density development.

A feasibility study by architects Horan Keogan Ryan has already shown that a scheme of 60 units per acre would be achievable under the planning guidelines. However, although the Sandyford site is located beside a large workforce, the slippage in the rental market means that a high level of sales to investors is no longer guaranteed.