US businessman is mystery buyer of Killiney estate for €7.5m

The mystery buyer behind one of the biggest residential property sales in the capital this year is entrepreneur Dr Joe Elias, who has shelled out €7.5million for Strathmore, the former Canadian embassy residence in Killiney.

Although it remains a closely guarded secret – with those surrounding the deal under non-disclosure agreements – a company believed to be associated with Elias sealed the deal on one of Dublin’s last great estates in March.

US-born Elias is the founder and chief executive of Retail in Motion, which specialises in online airline retail, targeting in-flight shoppers. Elias came to Ireland to study medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in 1996. On graduation he pursued a business career starting with a vodka-in-a-sachet venture that was heavily criticised and opposed by publicans. But the airline industry became interested and Retail in Motion has grown exponentially since.

It is likely Elias will completely renovate the 750sq m Killiney mansion standing on nine acres for personal use.

In recent years he purchased a site in Foxrock (where he currently lives) but abandoned ambitious plans for a substantial development to include a property of about 2, 300 sq m and later sold the site. The planning application on Strathmore should make for interesting reading.

Strathmore was acquired in 2008 by property developer Michael Roden, when he traded it with the Canadian embassy in exchange for an opulent 604sq m home on Oakley Road, Ranelagh, and about €3.01 million in cash.

In the latest transaction, the property was acquired by Knight Frank from Simon Ensor of Sherry FitzGerald, who placed Strathmore on the market last July for €8 million.