Grehan's gutsy move in D4: Congratulations to Ray Grehan for his succesful swoop on the vet college site on Shelbourne Road, which everyone assumed would go to Sean Dunne.
Grehan was one of the frontrunners for the Berkeley Court site next door so he was obviously determined to get a share of the action in Ballsbridge. With €100 million in sales under his belt from the Grange development in Stillorgan, he undoubtedly had the backing of AIB to make the winning bid of €175 million. It's a gutsy move for the Galway developer but, with commercial and residential zoning, not to mention frontage onto Pembroke Road, it's a cracking good site. He's already drawn up plans, but as with Dunne's adjoining seven acres, the planners will really determine the end value of this corner of Dublin 4.
Portmarnock purchase: Who's for golf? Capel developers Eddie Keegan, John O'Connor and Liam Kelly look set to sharpen their swing now that they are to take over Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links before Christmas. The trio will pay €70 million for the 100-bed four-star hotel and 18-hole golf course and, while they plan to run the hotel, the purchase maybe more a property play than anything else. The real value of the Portmarnock facility is based on the potential to do a land swap with one of the many golf clubs on the northside of the city. Clontarf Golf Club would be the most obvious target. The fact that Portmarnock is operated as a "pay-to-play" facility makes it easier to do a deal with one of the existing clubs.
The Capel boys have done well in the last decade. Their best buy was the former British Embassy on Merrion Road in Ballsbridge which cost them a modest £3 million (€3.81 million) in 1997. They built 50 apartments which they still own and rent out. Although Capel's plans for an apartment scheme on the former National College of Ireland site in Sandford, Ranelagh, has taken several years to come through the planning process, they seem certain to be compensated for the delay in higher selling prices. All 118 apartments will be ready to move into before they are put on the market towards the end of next year.
Queues in London: Sean Mulryan's Ballymore sales team had a queue outside its door in London on Sunday for the launch of its Pan Peninsula tower beside Canary Wharf. Over 165 apartments were booked by the end of the day at prices ranging from £230,000 to £1.6 million with bonus-rich bankers and lawyers among the first to buy. Billed as the highest residential scheme in Europe, the 50 and 40-storey towers won't be ready until 2009, making them an attractive investment for the Irish who like to follow where Mulryan goes.
