Chapelizod: Forty apartments by the Liffey costing from €240,000 are being launched this weekend. Kate McMorrow reports.
Island living village-style is on offer at Chapelizod this weekend, with the launch of 40 apartments on a waterfront site on the Liffey. The Island, Danninger's latest project, is under construction on a former industrial site right in the village centre, between the weir and the river.
Prices - starting at €240,000 for a few one-bedroom units and €275,000 for two-bedroom units, which are in the majority - are likely to attract first-time buyers and investors in equal numbers. Hooke & MacDonald will be taking bookings at the show apartments, which go on view for the first time this weekend.
Chapelizod's location less than three miles from the city quays is a strong selling point. A pedestrian gate at the top of Park Lane opens directly into the Phoenix Park.
The village, which vociferously opposed this scheme and has a strong community spirit, treasures its special status as a city village with historic medieval links.
The design of The Island takes into account the varied contours of existing village buildings, with different brick hues and narrow alleyways leading off the main street. Architects O'Mahony Pike and John Fleming have laid out the new scheme in seven three, four and five-storey blocks with either weir or river views. A landscaped garden will spread across to the rushing weir.
Prospective buyers could look at Bellevue, a previous Danninger development at Islandbridge, to get an idea of the superb landscaping planned for the Chapelizod scheme.
About 100 apartments have already sold from plans out of 180 in the entire development. Tall Rationel pine windows make light a dominant feature of these apartments. Those on the upper floors are particularly bright, with great views of the weir and the Liffey.
The orientation is also well-arranged, with most units facing either west or south. Each block has a terrazzo-floored entrance lobby, with a steel lift and wood and iron-railed staircase accessing the upper floors.
Two-bedroom apartments of 55 to 71 sq m (600 to 770 sq ft) range from €275,000 to €320,000. A typical unit has a combined sitting/diningroom with either a sun bay or a balcony. Compact kitchens are fitted with cherrywood-look units and off-white wall tiling.
There is one double bedroom and one single, both with fitted wardrobes, with a bathroom decorated in white and blue mosaic wall-tiling. Storage is good, with two walk-in cupboards and a roomy hot press off the hallway. Heating is electric.
Two three-bedroom penthouse apartments take up the top floor, each with balconies off both living and bedroom areas and en suite shower rooms with some main bedrooms. Prices start at €350,000 for these very bright apartments.
Buyers can purchase an underground car-parking space, expected to cost around €20,000. Splashing out on a car space could add considerably to the eventual resale value here.
The grounds promise to be spectacular when they are landscaped. Already bounded by deciduous trees, a lawn will be laid over the underground car- park and enhanced by further planting. It will have the river and weir on three sides and a bridge across to the village.
Apartments sold this weekend will be ready for occupation from Christmas onwards. With construction well under way, the builders should have moved off the site by next summer.
The facts: The Island
Address: Chapelizod Village, Dublin 15.
Number of units: 40
Types, sizes and prices: Two-bedroom apartments of 55-71 sq m (600-770 sq ft) priced from 275,000. A few 46 sq m (500 sq ft) one-bedroom units priced from 240,000. 83 sq m (900 sq ft) three-bedroom penthouses from 350,000.
Anything different? Unique waterside and Phoenix Park location; Rationel pine windows, fitted wardrobes in all bedrooms, sit-out balconies, good landscaping programme.
Ready: end of year onwards.
Developer: Danninger
Architects: O'Mahony Pike and John Fleming.
Selling agent: Hooke & MacDonald
Viewing times: Saturday and Sunday from 2.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.
