Developers to battle for £10m site on Griffith Avenue

Another residential site on Griffith Avenue in Dublin 9 has come on the market. Agents Hooke and MacDonald expect to secure in excess of £10 million at auction on April 11th for a three-acre site which has full planning permission for 128 apartments.

The site is being sold on behalf of P J Walls, one of Ireland's largest construction companies. Most of Dublin's leading house-building firms are likely to compete for the site, which is along one of the best roads in north Dublin.

The fact that there is full planning permission for the development will make it particularly appealing to firms waiting for planning approval to come through for their next scheme. Access to the site is from Glandore Road, off Griffith Avenue, and close to Swords road, the main link road to Dublin Airport.

An Bord Pleanala granted planning permission last November for the apartment scheme and with new units now in short supply in the city, the developer who buys the land will have the option of selling off the plans.

Site plans provide for an attractive scheme of 128 apartments in nine blocks varying in height from two to four storeys. Most of the apartments are two-bedroom units and penthouses with around 750 sq ft. There is also a small number of one-bedroom and three-bedroom homes.

The strong demand for apartments in north Dublin was underlined by last week's sale off the plans of Manor Park's 42 two-bedroom units in a scheme just getting under way at the Hole in the Wall Road, off Malahide Road. A price of £10 million would equate to an average cost of £78,000 per unit. Hooke and MacDonald, which has set up a development land department to handle the increasing number of housing sites coming on the market, says that two-bedroom apartments in Drumcondra and Glasnevin are selling mainly from £200,000 to £250,000 each.

Meanwhile, Mr Garvan Walsh of Gunne reports a high level of interest in a 10-acre field fronting on to Griffith Avenue which is to be sold by tender on March 31st. The land forms part of an 85-acre holding which has been farmed by the Eustace family since 1852. The land has four healthcare centres, including the Highfield Hospital along the Swords Road.

The site has a frontage on to both Griffith Avenue and the entrance to a private housing estate. A feasibility study by a Dublin firm of architects suggests that with higher housing densities now being achieved, the planners may allow up to 20 residential units per acre with a mixture of apartments and townhouses.

Although Gunne is quoting a guideline price of £17 million for the site, it is expected that it will make more than £20 million because of its primary location and its proximity to the city.

Meanwhile, an interesting redevelopment opportunity will arise shortly at Nutley Lane, Dublin 4, when Cumisky Auctioneers sells by tender a residential complex owned by the Irish Franciscan Order. It could make more than £4 million.

Broc house was used from the 1970s as a residence for students from around the country who attended third-level institutions. In recent years, it has been used as an administration centre.

The three-storey block has 15,790 sq ft of floor space, including 30 en suite double bedrooms, administration and reception areas and a manager's apartment. There is a detached two-bedroom bungalow at the rear of the site, which is surrounded by high walls and trees. The site extends to 0.56 of an acre and has 30 car-parking spaces.