If you can't sell, swap: how the rich do it

A Dublin property developer has acquired the Canadian embassy residence on nine acres opposite Bono's house in Killiney in exchange for a D6 home - and €3m

THE CANADIAN government has swapped its Killiney embassy residence for a lavishly renovated house in Ranelagh, plus cash, in a deal with property developer Michael Roden.

A foreign affairs spokesperson in Ottawa confirmed that Mr Roden had paid around 4.8 million Canadian dollars (€3.01m) in cash and given a detached house on Oakley Road in Ranelagh in exchange for the Canadians' nine-acre property on Strathmore Road, Killiney.

He plans to renovate the sprawling 1860s house which lies across the road from Bono's Vico Road home.

Strathmore has been owned by the Canadian government since 1957 when it bought it for £20,300. Last year they put it on the market at €17 million and moved new ambassador Pat Binns into an apartment in the Four Seasons Hotel in Ballsbridge.

The sale had been on the cards for a while: the house was expensive to keep, the grounds required two gardeners and ambassadors didn't like the long commute to the embassy's offices in the city. However Canadian expats objected to the sale of a house famous for its parties and cultural events.

They should be pleased with 22 Oakley Road. It has a series of grand reception rooms in over 604sq m (8,500sq ft) of living space and superb landscaped gardens front and back. Staff have moved in already and there are plans to erect a flagpole in the garden.

The six-bedroom house was placed on the market in March, priced at €12 million, a wildly optimistic price, given the downturn. One agent not involved in the sales reckons it to be worth closer to €8 million. The swap deal was arranged between estate agents Sherry FitzGerald and Lisney.

The idea of a property swap was first tried earlier this year by the French government which attempted to exchange its €50 million Ballsbridge residence and offices on Ailesbury Road, for alternative properties and cash. Despite receiving offers from at least three parties, the French deal did not go through, after frontrunner Denis O'Brien pulled out of negotiations with Paris.

Michael Roden is seen as one of the more astute operators in the residential property business. He came to prominence in 2003 when he sold the former Bank of Ireland playing fields in Mount Merrion to Niall Mellon for €50 million - double what he had paid for it four years previously. His Merrion Property Group owns several houses in Ballsbridge and in the city centre.

Strathmore has no less than three different entrances and it is possible that a number of houses could be built in its grounds. However, it's unlikely that any large scale development will be allowed in the medium term.