A religious order of nuns is to sell a threestorey convent building and a residential site of over seven acres beside Bushy Park, at Templeogue, Dublin 6W. It is one of the best development opportunities to arise in south Dublin this year and should make well in excess of £8 million when it is sold by tender through Hamilton Osborne King.

The site forms part of the grounds of Our Lady's School at Templeogue Road, a solid middle class area where many of the houses sell for between £300,000 and £400,000.

The convent building, which retains all its period features including a handsome inner hall with overhead sky light, is likely to be converted into apartments.

With the planners being pushed by the Department of the Environment to introduce higher housing densities where good services are already available, the authorities will inevitably allow well over 100 residential units on the seven-acre site.

Most of Dublin's leading house-builders are likely to tender for the convent and lands because of the severe shortage of new homes in south Dublin in particular, where development sites have been particularly scarce in recent years.

While the shortfall in supply is mainly affecting the starter homes market, the Templeogue site is more likely to be used for an expensive development of apartments and houses because of its prime location and its proximity to one of Dublin's best public parks.

Development land values have continued to soar this year despite the implementation of the Bacon report, which effectively took most residential investors out of the market. The convent and land is being sold by the Religious of Christian Education, which will continue to run Our Lady's secondary school. It has 716 students. The order says that while some of the land to be sold is used for sports, new playing fields will be made available at the rear of the school buildings.

The order says the proceeds of the sale will be used to further the work of the order. This will include the funding of projects to support educationally disadvantaged young people, the building of more suitable residential accommodation for the aging sisters, and to provide for their care.

Eight years ago, the sisters transferred five acres behind the community house to Dublin Corporation to facilitate an extension to Bushy Park.

A large proportion of the land developed for housing in the last decade was sold by religious orders.