Property

Ex-Aryzta CFO makes €4.25m property play in Lansdowne

New company linked to Patrick McEniff likely to redevelop Lansdowne Lodge

Lansdowne Lodge has been bought by a company linked to Patrick McEniff

Thu Feb 8 2018 - 13:00

It's been a year since since former Aryzta chief Owen Killian announced his resignation from the multibillion euro food group, amid turmoil at the company that resulted in the resignation of other key executives, including chief financial officer Patrick McEniff.

It appears that McEniff may now be trying his hand at property development as a company linked to him has bought Lansdowne Lodge, a 361sq m (3,891sq ft) detached house standing on a 0.6 acre site bounded by Shelbourne Road, Shelbourne Avenue and Lansdowne Road.

Situated across the street from the new Lansdowne Place luxury apartment scheme and a stone's throw from the Aviva Stadium, it appears the property will be redeveloped by McEniff judging from the name of their new company, Lansdowne Lodge Developments.

Scheme

The house dates from the Victorian era and was owned by the same family between 1890 and last year, but it is not a protected structure and may well be razed to make way for a new apartment or townhouse scheme, or equally it could be retained and flanked with modern extensions.

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Savills sought €4.5 million for the house last year, but it was snapped up by McEniff at a slightly lower €4.25 million. Equating to just over €7 million per acre, it's a long way from the €84 million per acre that developer Ray Grehan dropped on the former UCD veterinary site across the street in 2005, notwithstanding that Grehan would have expected to obtain planning for a much higher density scheme than may be possible on the McEniff site.

The Lansdowne Lodge property is unlikely to be McEniff’s first multimillion purchase in the area. In 2014, as the ailing property market began its recovery, an unidentified buyer picked up one of the finest houses on Elgin Road for €4.8 million, which had traded hands six years prior in 2008 for €12.5 million. It is listed as the registered address of Mrs McEniff and the development company, suggesting the couple were the canny buyers back in 2014.

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