Apartments in the village near the city

Dublin 15: from €255,000 The second phase of the extensive Rathborne development off the Navan Road in Dublin is being launched this weekend. Called The Village, prices start at €255,000 for one bedroom units and the apartments will be sold off the plans with a completion date in late 2006.

For anyone familiar with the Navan Road, access to the development is off the roundabout at the Halfway House pub. Indeed this entire area of North west Dublin is undergoing intense development with the adjacent Phoenix Park racecourse scheme already well underway.

The first phase of Rathborne is occupied having been launched in 2003 and the majority of buyers were owner-occupiers. It's likely that these apartments in The Village will have the same appeal for first time buyers. While the Navan Road is close to the city centre as well as the M50, one of Rathborne's biggest attractions for city centre workers is its proximity to rail links - the Ashtown Rail station is a short walk away.

When it is complete, The Village will be made up of three separate apartment buildings, and the 72 apartments on offer now are in one of those buildings called The Chandler. The plan for The Village is that amenities, including restaurants, cafes and shops and other services will be on site at ground floor level.

The one bedroom apartments have 49.7 sq m (525 sq ft) and are priced from €255,000; Two bedroom units have 71.6 sq m (771 sq ft) and are from €345,000 and three bedroom penthouses with 88.7 sq m (955 sq ft) are priced from €445,000.

Standard features include integrated appliances in the contemporary-styled kitchen, balconies with timber decking, partial tiling in the bathroom, an ensuite bathroom in the two and three bedroom units, and fitted wardrobes in all bedrooms.

While storage is never a big feature in any new apartment scheme at least in The Village there is a small utility room with a washer dryer in each apartment.

Each one and two bedroom apartment comes with an underground car parking space and the apartment floors are serviced by a lift.

The penthouses have additional features including granite kitchen worktops, kitchen floor tiling, semi-solid timber flooring in the living area and two parking spaces.

Buying off the plans is never an easy task as most people find it very difficult to visualise space, so the developers, Castlethorn Construction's decision to construct a fitted out apartment on site is a smart idea. Buyers can at least see the floor plan of what they are buying in The Village's on-site marketing suite, look at a scaled model of the entire development and then most importantly walk around a purpose-built show apartment.

This show apartment will be on view this Saturday and Sunday, 12pm-5pm, and Tuesday - Thursday 12-5pm when booking deposits will also be taken. Hamilton Osborne King is handling the sales at the development.