Developer Seán Dunne will brief members of the property industry tonight on the details of his planning application for the Jury's/Berkeley Court site in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
Over 100 property people, including estate agents and architects, have been invited to the private meeting which will take place in the Berkeley Court Hotel.
Dunne, who will submit the planning application to Dublin City Council at the end of the week, has already revealed there will be 536 apartments and a 220-bed hotel. It is also believed his plans will include a tower of between 32 storeys and 36 storeys, and a 16-storey block at the back of the Berkeley Court Hotel, as well as a shopping centre, bars, restaurants and a theatre. Dunne initially invited local Dublin city councillors to tonight's briefing but subsequently withdrew the invitation, saying it is for stakeholders in the property market only.
He paid €379 million in 2005 for the Berkeley Court Hotel and Jurys Ballsbridge Hotel sites and has been open about his plans to turn it into "Dublin's Knightsbridge". In June city councillors rejected a draft area plan for Ballsbridge which would have allowed high-rise development in the area. This was widely seen as a snub to Dunne's plans to build high-rise apartment blocks.
Meanwhile, developer Ray Grehan of Glenkerrin submitted a proposal earlier this month to Dublin City Council for the adjacent former UCD Veterinary College site for 190 apartments and a commercial and retail venture. This incorporates a 15-storey luxury residential tower, new urban streets and up to nine storeys of offices. Grehan maintains the 15-storey corner residential tower in the centre of the development overlooking a newly created "New Pembroke Square" will have "no negative impact on the skyline".
All of the sites suitable for development in the centre of Ballsbridge have been snapped up by a small group of high-profile developers. Bernard McNamara and Jerry O'Reilly, paid €46 million earlier this year for Carrisbrook House on the corner of Northumberland Road, and David Daly of Albany Homes spent €25 million on Franklin House on Pembroke Road last year. In March Jerry O'Reilly and David Courtney bought the Faculty Building on Shelbourne Road for over €35 million.
