Finnegan to develop in Dún Laoghaire, ‘Beulah’ buyer emerges

Not even a year has passed since auctioneer Vincent Finnegan opened a swish new agency on Dun Laoghaire's George's Street Upper, but the estate agent is already planning a property foray of his own by demolishing the shop and an adjoining unit.

Finnegan reportedly acquired the property, 7/8 Anglesea Buildings, from the National Asset Management Agency for a knockdown €450,000 – a far cry from the circa €2.5 million-plus the previous owner was believed to have paid for the 295sq m premises some years ago.

Finnegan now plans to replace the existing commercial units with a new 881sq m four-storey mixed-use building, with two new shops on the ground floor and five apartments across the upper three levels. The proposed building is designed by Extend Architects, who are located in Finnegan's own locale of Dalkey.

Dalkey mansion

Elsewhere in Dalkey, the buyer of €6 million Beulah on Harbour Road has emerged. Aviation financier Douglas Brennan picked up the sizeable seaside mansion on 1.7 acres in September 2016 for a slight discount on its €6.5 million asking price, after it had been on the open market for a year.

The US native is believed to be living in one of Robin Power and Michelle Kavanagh’s luxury rental homes on Sandycove’s seafront, and may be staying there for some time yet while Beulah is overhauled.

Brennan plans to renovate the original house and to replace a small, single-storey extension with a larger 180sq m one. Seemingly not content with sea access from private Rocklands harbour nearby, a new outdoor swimming pool is to be constructed, in addition to a tennis court on the home’s expansive gardens.

Architecture and design studio LyonsKelly are listed as the architects for the renovation and extension plans. The firm is involved in a number of similar high-end projects across some of Dublin’s most fashionable addresses, such as the mammoth extension of the Shrewsbury Road home of another aviation millionaire, Aengus Kelly.