REDEVELOPMENT SITE:A study suggests the Camden Street site could accommodate a hotel development of 8,500sq m (91,493sq ft) which would provide for around 120 bedrooms

ONE OF THE few opportunities available to develop a new hotel in Dublin city centre will arise shortly when a site of 0.31 of a hectare (0.87 of an acre) goes for sale by tender at Camden Street Upper and Camden Street Lower in Dublin 2.

Wesley Rothwell of CB Richard Ellis is quoting a guide price of €15.5 million for the well-located site which has been assembled by three different property owners. It is opposite the Bleeding Horse bar and Camden Court Hotel.

There are eight three-storey over basement buildings fronting on to Camden Street Upper and Lower. These have a combined floor area of 2,600sq m (27,798sq ft) and extend on to Grantham Place at the rear. The sale includes a further property at 11a Grantham Place which covers an area of 0.069 hectares (0.17 of an acre).

A study by HKR Architects shows that the site could accommodate a hotel development of 8,500sq m (91,493sq ft) which would provide for around 120 bedrooms. Hotel bedrooms are expected to be in short supply in the city centre when the Jurys Doyle hotels in Ballsbridge and the even larger Burlington Hotel are redeveloped by Sean Dunne and Bernard McNamara, respectively.

Wesley Rothwell says that the site could, alternatively, be used for a multitude of new schemes including leisure, healthcare, offices and residential. The various properties are zoned under Objective Z4 in the Dublin city development plan "to provide for and improve mixed services facilities".

CBRE points to the rarity of sites of this size coming on the market within close proximity to St Stephen's Green and the city centre.

The site is to be offered for sale in a variety of lots should it fail to sell as a single entity.

There is a guide price of €14 million for the buildings along Camden Street and €1.5 million for the property on Grantham Place.