Irish Life completes €49m purchase of Dalkey apartment scheme

The Lookout on Harbour Road comprises 94 apartments aimed towards the upper end of the private rented sector

Irish Life’s Irish Residential Property Fund has completed the purchase of 94 luxury apartments developer Francis Rhatigan’s Winterbrook has developed at Dalkey in south Dublin.

While the value of the off-market deal has not been disclosed, The Irish Times understands Irish Life has paid about €50 million, or an average of €521,276 per unit, to secure ownership of The Lookout on Harbour Road.

Designed by Henry J Lyons Architects, the development comprises a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments distributed across two parallel blocks overlooking Dalkey Island.

The layout of the buildings follows what the architects describe as “a long tradition of set-piece seaside architecture in Dublin suburbs reminiscent of the 19th century white terraces of Dun Laoghaire, Blackrock, Monkstown and Glasthule”.

READ MORE

Aimed towards the upper end of the private rented sector market, the apartments are set to offer tenants what Irish Life describes as “best-in-class” amenities and concierge facilities along with extensive bicycle parking and electric-car charging stations.

The Harbour Road scheme was developed on the grounds of Charleville, a large building occupying a 1.77-acre site which Mr Rhatigan’s company acquired for €5.5 million in 2017.

Irish Life Inverstment Managers (ILIM) secured the acquisition of the Harbour Road development in an off-market deal which it negotiated during the first coronavirus lockdown in early 2020.

Commenting on the completion of the transaction, a spokesman for the company said: “We’re delighted to take formal ownership of The Lookout. We will begin letting apartments in the coming months, delivering new rental accommodation to the market.

“We believe high-quality properties, with strong sustainability characteristics like this A-rated scheme, are an important part of our diversified investment portfolio, which we manage on behalf of our customers.”

Ronald Quinlan

Ronald Quinlan

Ronald Quinlan is Property Editor of The Irish Times