Developers keeping an 'eager eye' on RTE

RTÉ could solve some of its financial problems by disposing of part of its 32-acre campus at Montrose in Dublin 4, worth an estimated €88 million.

According to one property source, residential and commercial developers have been keeping "an eager eye" on the site since the State broadcaster ran into difficulties.

"A significant section could be redeveloped if RTÉ was less generous to itself in terms of parkland setting," said the source.

With prime development land at a premium in Dublin, and a trend towards space-saving underground and multi-storey car parking, employees of RTÉ currently have the advantage of some 840 car parking spaces, most of which are surface. They also enjoy the use of extensive landscaped grounds.

The campus is zoned for institutional uses but it would be "surprising", says Mr Simon Ensor, of Sherry FitzGerald, "if the planners would not give consideration to a residential scheme".

"In fact, I think they would be keener on residential than commercial given that it is in the middle of a predominantly residential area."

Any prospective residential development on the site is likely to be a high-density apartments scheme to maximise the site value.

An RTÉ spokesperson said it would be "impossible to say at the moment" how many acres could potentially be available for redevelopment on the RTÉ campus.