Apartments beside Bushy Park from £245,000

The first 30 apartments in a new development of two and three-bedroom apartments and four-bedroom houses at Bushy Park House, Terenure, Dublin 6W, go on sale from plans today, after a hotly-contested two-year planning battle. Hooke & MacDonald will display a scale model of the development, along with plans and further details, at the Herbert Park Hotel, Ballsbridge from noon to 3.00 p.m.

Because of the site's marvellous location along the wooded perimeter of Bushy Park, prices are not at the cheaper end of the scale. The 30 two and three-bedroom apartments for sale today range from £245,000 (€311,090) for a 735 sq ft two-bedroom unit and from £300,000 (€380,920) for 950 sq ft to 1,000 sq ft three-bedroom units. Bright wall-to-wall glass penthouses with three bedrooms and up to 1,500 sq ft of living space cost from £465,000 (€590,430). Two-thirds of the apartments are two-bedroom units.

Businessman John Kennedy and the McSharry brothers paid £14 million (€17.78m) to the Religious of Christian Education order of nuns in October 1998 for the choice 7.1 acre site. Their development company, Sheelin McSharry, finally got the go-ahead last September from An Bord Pleanala to build 272 two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments and 16 four-bedroom houses on the edge of one of Dublin's finest public parks.

The site forms part of the grounds of Our Lady's School on Templeogue Road - a solid middle-class area where houses frequently fetch more than £500,000 (€634,870).

The five apartment blocks will vary in height and shape, although most units will have a westerly orientation. The first block, a seven-storey building, is to be sold in phase one. Completion date is this autumn and the entire site will be finished within three years. Since the blocks are designed in separate landscaped areas off a central tree-lined avenue, on-going construction work will be contained, says the agent. There is planning permission to preserve Bushy Park House, a listed building, and to extend it to facilitate education, science or technology-based enterprises.

Matching the quality of the location, architect O'Mahony Pike has designed the apartments to an extremely high specification and all the units are larger than average. Notable features will include an underground car-park with a high-speed lift to all floors. One free parking space will be allocated to each apartment, with additional guest parking in the grounds. Most units will have good-sized balconies, attractive fireplaces fitted with gas fires and main bedrooms with en suite. Video intercom is also included.

The landscaping plan is one of the most outstanding features at Bushy Park House. A tree-lined central driveway will give way to smart landscaped courtyards planted to complement the surrounding parkland. House-buying is a cyclical process in this family-oriented area and Hooke & MacDonald expects a fair proportion of buyers at Bushy Park House to be local people trading up or down.

However, the prospect of living on the fringe of Bushy Park should attract a much wider public. This is an oasis of greenery, with woodlands, rambling walkways, the River Dodder, a waterfall and a lake with swans and ducks.

Less than three miles from Stephen's Green, Terenure has a good selection of upmarket shops and restaurants and dozens of good schools within cycling distance. Our Lady's School adjoins the new development and Terenure College is across the road from the entrance gates.

Notable residential developments by Sheelin McSharry include Herbert Park Lane in Ballsbridge and Ashbrook on Howth Road.