Rehab Group puts Sandymount site on sale for €12m

One of the best remaining residential sites in Dublin 4, The Rehab Group's Roslyn Park in Sandymount, is expected to be of interest to Irish and overseas developers when it is offered for sale from today.

Joint agents Lisney and Savills are guiding over €12 million for the 2.09 hectares (5.16 acres) grounds which front on to Seafort Avenue, Newgrove Avenue and Beach Road and are likely to accommodate a mixed development of apartments and townhouses.

The sale of Rehab's most valuable asset comes two years after it was rocked by a major controversy over the pay of the former chief executive, Angela Kerins, and several issues relating to how the disability charity and commercial group was being run.

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The Rehab Group’s Roslyn Park campus in Sandymount

More than 10,500 people use Rehab services in Ireland-children and adults with disabilities, people on the autism spectrum, others with mental health difficulties and some who are disadvantaged in the labour market.

Rehab has not indicated where it plans to relocate to or whether it has already found alternative buildings but it is making it a condition of the sale that the much used college building can be leased back for either two years or longer.

Developers interested in the property are also to be asked to tender on the basis that the Rehab Group will remain in the offices for 4 months from the closing of the sale.

Rehab said the sale was taking place as part of a changed programme within the group “which includes a planned restructuring of its services into a more integrated and sustainable model”.

A portion of the site has residential zoning while the main campus is zoned "to provide for institutional, educational, recreational, community, green infrastructure and other uses" under the Dublin City Council Development Plan 2010-2017.

The selling agents contend that the area identified by this zoning can also be used for housing.

There has been no indication as to the housing density likely to be approved for the site but it seems inevitable that families owning high-value houses on adjoining roads will be opposed to anything other than a low to moderate sized scheme.

A convent and a girls secondary school was opened in Roslyn Park around 1950 by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary and closed in 1982.

Rehab moved into the building the following year.

Period house

The centrepiece of Roslyn Park is a distinctive period house designed in 1790 by

James Gandon

who also designed the Custom House and the Four Courts.

The house fell into a bad state of repair in the 1980s but was then partially demolished and rebuilt according to Gandon’s plans.

The building is known by some as Gandon Villa and by others as Roslyn Park House and is fully listed by Dublin City Council.

The sale also includes 12 Seafort Avenue, a two-storey end of terrace building in need of refurbishment with a retail extension to the front.

Ross Shorten of Lisney and John Swarbrigg of Savills describe Roslyn Park as "undoubtedly one of the finest development opportunities" to be offered for sale in the Dublin suburbs in recent years.

“This is a unique opportunity to deliver a high-end luxury residential development site to the market.”

Not too far away in Ballsbridge, Joe O'Reilly's Chartered Land and the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund are planning to develop 568 top end apartments and a 152 bedroom hotel as well as other facilities on the Berkeley Court and Jurys hotel sites.

Next door the Comer Group are well advanced on the development of three office blocks extending to 12,541sq m (135,000sq ft), 88 apartments and a leisure centre.