Home hunters interested in buying into a new apartment scheme in Dublin 13 - selling off plans today - will be taken on a virtual tour of the complex by the Ross McParland agency. The first 42 two-bedroom units at Grattan Hall range in price from £145,000 to £160,000, with large penthouse suites for £300,000.
A CD ROM commissioned by the developers - one of the first of its kind in this country in the new homes property market - travels through a typical apartment and penthouse suite to give potential purchasers a feel for the finished product. Buyers will be presented with a copy to use on their home PCs.
The location of the seven-acre development is on The Hole in The Wall Road, accessed through Mayne Road, which is off the Malahide Road. Dublin Airport is within easy reach. For that reason, corporate buyers are likely to be attracted to the penthouses. The Northern Cross motorway is also due to pass close to the site. Long-established Manor Park Homes has joined forces with Walsh Maguire & O'Shea as Jumex Ltd to build the scheme.
Grattan Hall will consist of 154 two-bedroom apartments and 22 penthouses divided between 10 three-storey and four-storey blocks. Building is under way on the site and the first three blocks released today will be ready for occupation by next June. The entire development is due to be completed by May, 2001. Exteriors will be half-brick and rendered, with penthouse windows set into the sloping roof and balconies on first and second-storey apartments. Ground floor units will have a small terrace.
The standard of finish will be high, with Shires sanitary-ware, decorative coving in reception areas and good quality kitchens. A stainless steel oven, hob and extractor fan is included in the purchase price and penthouses have a comprehensive range of standard kitchen equipment.
The apartments will vary in size from 625 sq. ft to 700 sq. ft and range in price from £145,000 to £160,000. A typical unit will have an entrance hall with the bathroom off it, and a very large L-shaped sitting-room with a dining area leading into a Shaker-style maple kitchen. Sitting-rooms will have a standard limestone fireplace with gas-effect fire.
The two bedrooms - one double and one single - are good-sized and the main bedroom is en suite and has fitted wardrobes. Balconies off the sitting-room will be large enough to sit out on. There are two penthouse suites for sale at £300,000, both with 1,030 sq. ft.
These are sold ready to walk into, with timber floors in living areas and floor and wall tiling in kitchen and bathrooms. In the separate Shaker-style kitchen, cooker and hob, extractor, dishwasher, American-style fridge-freezer and washer/dryer will be standard features. Sloping ceilings and very spacious sitting-rooms, often with unusual angled walls, create a loft effect. Balconies are recessed into the roof. Bedrooms will both be doubles and have extra-wide en suite bathrooms.
The complex will have electronically-controlled security gates and each unit will be supplied with an intercom system. Ash and poplar trees planted five years ago on the boundaries of the site are well matured. Parking will be provided for 220 cars.
