€37m bid for 24-acre Rathfarnham site

With the demand for starter homes in south Dublin at its highest level for many years, a substantial development site in Rathfarnham, Dublin 16, has attracted the highest price since the collapse of the property market.

Agents DTZ Sherry FitzGerald initially quoted €22 million for the site at Scholarstown Road and after being inundated with inquiries invited interested parties to lodge their best bids. The highest offer, understood to be about €37 million, has now been forwarded to Nama for its approval.

The site extends to 9.86 hectares (24.37 acres) and is widely recognised as the best development opportunity to come on the market in the Rathfarnham area for at least six years.

The land was assembled over many years by the veteran house builder Michael Whelan of Maplewood Homes, who secured planning permission for a development of 337 houses, apartments and a crèche. The permission, granted by An Bord Pleanála, has since expired but it is generally accepted that it is certain to set a favourable precedent for a large- scale development. The €37 million selling price will work out at almost €110,000 per unit, by the far the highest valuation recorded since the property bust.

The land is particularly well located one kilometre from Junction 12 on the M50, and has extensive frontage on to both Stocking Lane and Scholarstown Road.

Peter Lynch of DTZ Sherry FitzGerald marketed the land as part of “old Rathfarnham” and said its location in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains made it one of the best remaining development opportunities on the south side of the city.

The land is located in an area zoned "A" under the South Dublin County Council Development Plan "to protect and/or improve residential amenity" and is clearly intended for a large-scale development of family homes.

A recent Sherry FitzGerald database showed that there are almost 7,000 active buyers in the south Dublin market with an average budget of €497,638 per buyer. An estimated 2,191 are focussed specifically on buying in the Dublin 14/16 area and 1,037 are concentrating on the Rathfarnham district.