The developers: Three Dublin housebuilders stand to make substantial profits on the sale of about 10,000 homes to be built in Adamstown, the latest town development for the Dublin suburbs.
Around 500 acres at Adamstown in Lucan are to be developed by three companies, Castlethorn Construction, Maplewood Development and Tierra Ltd.
Castlethorn controls 60 per cent of the development site, having acquired it for €30 million between 1996-1997, before it was rezoned.
The company, which is controlled by Joe O'Reilly, Liam Maye, John Fitzsimons and Brian Wallace, is widely acknowledged as one of the more innovative developers in the business.
Castlethorn has been involved in a wide range of housing developments in Dublin's suburbs, most recently in Stepaside, Blanchardstown and Pelletstown, a 100-acre site close to the Phoenix Park's Ashtown Gate.
Maplewood, which owns approximately 30 per cent of the land, is controlled by Michael Whelan, who has been hitting the headlines for a number of high-profile retail and office investments London.
Last year he paid £160 million (€230 million) for Victoria House, an office block partially occupied by the UK's Competition Authority. Maplewood has been building in west Dublin for several years and is currently building in Lucan.
Tierra, a family-run firm headed by Dubliner John McGreevey, owns 10 per cent of the land in Adamstown. The company has been involved in a number of smaller residential developments in Lucan as well as Clontarf.
The three firms have established a joint-venture company, Chartridge, which will co-ordinate the delivery of infrastructure to the town in conjunction with South Dublin County Council.
Each phase of the development will involve the construction of approximately 800 homes, which will be shared between the three developers, said Castlethorn's project manager, Jude Byrne.
However, the location of Tierra's land to the west of the site means the company will only be getting involved in later phases.
South Dublin County Council has approved Castlethorn's first planning application in respect of some 330 homes for the initial phase of the development. Maplewood is expected to seek permission for 170 homes shortly.
The financial success of the scheme will largely depend on how the new homes market performs over the next decade.