Menolly Homes, one of the country's busiest housebuilders, has started work on a major new housing development in the Balgriffin/Baldoyle "north fringe" of Dublin

Site work has begun on 800 new housing units being built in the north Dublin suburbs. The project, worth more than €60 million, represents the largest single planning approval for housing granted in a single tranche.

The site for a mix of homes, apartments, and duplexes was purchased jointly by Menolly Homes, headed by Seamus Ross, and Killoe Developments, headed by Micheal Keogh and James Gillna.

The deal was with Gannon Homes and Gerry Gannon, who put through and received the original planning approval, according to a source close to the deal. "We bought the first 800 units that Gannon got permission for," the source indicated. "The deal is worth more than €60 million."

About half of the new units, all of which will be completed by May 2006, are individual houses. They will be built on a 25-acre site sitting at the southern end of Gannon Home's huge holding, which along with land held by fellow developers Shannon Homes and Ballymore Homes, makes up the majority of the "north fringe".

The north fringe straddles the Balgriffin/Baldoyle area to the north of Dublin where over the next few years more than 7,000 new housing units will be built on 490 acres, supporting a population of about 20,000.

The north fringe was rezoned by the then Dublin Corporation in its 1999 development plan to provide housing and also a new town centre, commercial and retail development. It will also sport a new railway station as the main Dublin-Belfast line runs through the north fringe site.

"The overall Gannon Homes approval is for 3,500 units including a mix of homes, apartments and duplexes," the source indicated. "The first section to get full planning approval is for our 800 units. The development will be known as Beaupark."

The units sit in a lower density part of the north fringe scheme, and will have a density of about 60 units per hectare.

The site now held by Menolly and Killoe will only involve residential development and does not include any of the commercial or retail planned for the Gannon lands under the wider scheme.

A larger deal with Gannon had been sought by Menolly and Killoe and this is still under negotiation. If successfully concluded it would involve another 270 housing units and would bump the deal to more than €70 million. The source was unsure whether this element of the deal will go through.

Menolly is one of the country's busiest home builders with 6,000 units coming on stream under its banner over the next few years. "They are renowned for coming onto the market at lower prices than nearby competitors, delivering value for money homes," the source indicated. "We are going to move a lot of houses onto the market, we are not going to develop this in small parcels," the source said. "We expect to sell 300 homes by Christmas off plans and when we start we are going to keep on selling. The unusual point of this is that generally housing availability is low for starter and intermediate homes but we will have volume available."

The source pointed out however that there were strict guidelines on how the north fringe development would proceed. The planning requires that as new homes are built, facilities are also developed to prevent homes from becoming isolated without shops and amenities.

Site work at Beaupark has been underway for almost a month. "All going well, we expect to bring these onto the market in late summer or early autumn," the source said.

Construction should be completed by May 2006 at the latest. Sales agent for the development will be Sherry FitzGerald.

Planning for the north fringe has been meticulous with an over-arching approach applied to avoid the pitfalls that have become a familiar but unwanted part of large, patchwork quilt-type housing schemes.

Planning permission for the Shannon Homes lands to the west of the fringe, for example, lists reserved sites for childcare facilities, public houses, shops, a food store, post office, health centre, surgery, community centre, pharmacy, off licence and hot food take away. It also includes 1.5 acres for a primary school.

The Gannon lands have the Dublin-Belfast rail line running along its eastern edge. The developer will contribute to the building of a new train station, there will be a bus station and a decorative lake. There will also be a commercial centre, producing a village atmosphere for the overall development.

The Gannon scheme avoids the use of a "gridiron" approach to housing layout, with curved streets, bus and cycle lanes, main boulevards and cul-de-sacs.

The fringe has been divided into character areas, and each area has its own layout, urban form, landscaping and materials, the idea being to promote a local identity for each site.

The western side of the Gannon site is dominated by Father Collins Park.

This will undergo significant upgrading to provide an attractive local amenity. It will form the centrepiece of the north fringe and offer improved sports and recreational facilities.