Around the Block

Beware the builders' holidayAfter yet another bumper property season, the builders have closed shop for their holidays, and the estate agents aren't far behind. While sales do continue through the dog days of August, anyone with a valuable property now is likely to be holding it back until September. Unless of course it's on a beach or by a golf course, in which case, now is the time to be selling. Otherwise it's fire sales only, and buyers can pick up the odd bargain, by keeping a close eye on properties that have failed to sell earlier in the year, and are now lingering on agents' lists.

Like the run up to Christmas, August can be a busy time for developers to slip in ambitious planning applications while neighbourhood watchdogs might be minding their kids in the Gaeltacht or Tramore. Look out for notices high up on trees or nestling in the shrubbery, particularly in settled neighbourhoods where houses with large gardens have been snapped up by housebuilders who can squeeze a few more into the site.

If you need to track down the builder, you're likely to find him in Ballybrit next week where he'll be parading his horse at the Galway Races. In between races he'll be schmoozing with government ministers who can come in handy during the year when advance information is needed on Government sites likely to come on the market, or office blocks that will be needed to accommodation public servants under the decentralisation programme.

HOK moves into D6 - and out of fine art

Good to see HOK expanding with a new branch opened last week on Ranelagh's triangle. This is bound to give the agency a decent share of the lucrative redbrick business in Dublin 6, where prices seem to know no bounds. They'll be competing with Sherry FitzGerald, with local boys Mason Estates, with Youngs, and, of course with Douglas Newman Good which has its HQ around the corner in Leeson Park.

There are more changes afoot in the HOK stable with plans to off-load its fine art business, currently based in Blackrock. With country house sales dwindling, and the Irish art market fairly sewn up by a number of big players, it's not surprising that HOK has decided to get out. It's passing the business on to James Adam, which already handles a good share of the art and antiques market.

Hugh Hamilton looked after HOK's fine art business for many years, until he retired a short time ago. He was a dab hand at pulling in the country houses for sale, and invariably was entrusted with selling the contents too. However, in recent years, this market has dwindled somewhat, and there's been a real dearth of interesting country houses and contents for sale.

Most decent houses now hitting the market are bought by Irish business people rather than English or overseas buyers, and repeat sales are rare. Fine furniture is even rarer, while everyday antiques are losing their appeal with the young moneyed set who prefer clean modern furniture rather than solid mahogany. Prices have dropped significantly for everyday antiques though the smart money is still around for top quality pieces that will show their value in the long run.

Property developer's art of philanthropy

A colleague just back from Dallas wonders if local property moguls might be inspired by the philanthropy of developers there. Raymond Nasher, a real estate developer who built the city's first major shopping mall in the 1960s, decided a few years ago that he and his wife Patsy would donate their extensive sculpture collection to Dallas. So he bought a city block next to the city's modern art museum, hired Italian architect Renzo Piano (one of the modern greats) to design it and - at a cost of US$70 million (€58 million)- built the Nasher Sculpture Centre.

It's a stunning museum, which contains what is apparently the world's greatest privately-held collection of 20th century sculpture (they don't do things by halves in Texas). There are works by everybody from Rodin to Picasso, Miro to Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth to Roy Lichtenstein. Just as amazing is it's setting, with 25 of the works located in an outdoor garden, an oasis in the middle of the busy city from which you also see some brilliant skyscrapers. Next door is another collection of Asian art housed in an office block owned by another developer. Would any of our new billionaire developers take note?