Competition between builders may push St Helen's site to £9m

A SITE with planning permission for a large apartment development at St Helen's, Booterstown, on Stillorgan Road, Co Dublin, is expected to make between £7 million and £9 million when it is auctioned on June 7th by joint agents Gunne and Ross McParland. It is the last remaining residential site at St Helen's where more than 550 houses and apartments have either been built or are under construction.

The price to be paid for the 13.69 acre site will largely depend on what view developers take on the total number of apartments which are likely to be allowed by the planning authorities.

Berland, which is selling the land following the resolution of a dispute in the firm, originally sought planning permission for 321 apartments but after discussions with the planners reduced the number of units to 297. These were to be provided in 10 four-storey and five-storey blocks with recessed penthouse levels and underground car-parking.

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council eventually issued a notice of its intention to grant planning permission for 297 apartments but made it conditional on the height of six of the blocks being reduced by one floor. This would reduce the number of apartments to 261.

Berland has since lodged an appeal against this condition in the expectation that the number of units will be restored to 297.

Most of the leading housebuilders are expected to be in competition for the site because of the exceptionally strong new homes market. Several major apartment schemes have been sold off the plans since the start of the year.

One of these developments, Belfield Park, is located at St Helen's and is being developed by Shannon Homes. The site for its 128 apartments was sold last year by Sherry FitzGerald on behalf of Berland for £2.6 million - the equivalent of marginally over £20,000 per unit.

The demand for apartment sites has strengthened since then, as illustrated by recent sales in Sandymount and Dartry. Last Thursday, Galway housebuilder Frank O'Malley paid £1.9 million at a Gunne auction for 1.6 acres at Sunbury Gardens, off Dartry Road, Dublin 6. Jackson Properties also set a new record last month when a site of 2.6 acres at St John's Road, Sandymount, Dublin 4, was knocked down to it at £3.9 million. Neither of the sites has planning permission for new developments although they are zoned for residential use.

Berland is also to seek a buyer shortly for St Helen's House, which has planning permission for a 150-bedroom hotel. An Bord Pleanala is considering an objection to the hotel scheme.

Berland bought St Helen's house and 71 acres of land in 1989 for about 10 million.