€750,000 for former Royal Oak pub site

A prime residential infill site in Dublin 11 is fresh to the market this week with agent Hooke & MacDonald quoting over €750,000.

The 0.44 hectares (1.1 acres), which is being sold on the instructions of receivers Duff & Phelps, is close to Glasnevin Cemetery and has extensive road frontage of some 135 metres to the N2 Dublin-Derry road. It previously accommodated the Royal Oak pub which was sold in 2006 for around €6 million.

Across the N2 is the Tolka River and Tolka Valley linear park while Phibsborough village is a 15-minute walk. Junction five of the M50 is 3.4kms to the north-west. The site is adjacent to the Tolka Vale apartment development and a number of other modern apartment developments.

Under the Dublin City Development Plan 2011-2017 the property is zoned for residential use. Planning permission was granted in February 2008 for a seven-storey development on site which incorporated 86 apartments, gym and 123 basement car spaces. This consent expired in 2013 but the agents suggest the site is also well suited to a housing development.

Dublin City Council also approved a subsequent plan for the site submitted by Ashgrange Holdings and Jim and Geraldine Stafford but this was subsequently appealed to An Bord Pleanála by Violet Hill Residents Association. This second proposed development involved knocking the Royal Oak pub and building 78 apartments, a new pub and off-licence and three shops.

An Bord Pleanála ruled against the development in February 2013 on the grounds it would result in on-street parking, create serious traffic congestion in the area resulting in traffic hazard, would be visually obtrusive and cause overlooking and loss of privacy.

Hooke & MacDonald maintain that the site also has development potential, subject to planning permission, for a broad range of commercial/roadside uses, including retail, drive-through restaurant, retail warehouse/showrooms, and petrol station. Enda Moore of Hooke & MacDonald says the site "will appeal for either residential or commercial use and is likely to be of interest to builders/developers or owner-occupiers with specific end uses in mind".