Bartra seeks €8m for D4 site with planning for 20 apartments

Richard Barrett puts 98 Merrion Road up for sale after doing the ’hard work’

Plans for five-storey over-basement apartment scheme comprising 20 apartments on Merrion Road.
Plans for five-storey over-basement apartment scheme comprising 20 apartments on Merrion Road.

Agent Finnegan Menton is guiding a price of €8 million for a “ready-to go” residential development site of 0.6 acres (0.22 hectares) on 98 Merrion Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.

The site's current owner, developer Richard Barrett's Bartra Capital, has "done the hard work", the agent says, in securing approval from An Bord Pleanála last November for a five-storey over-basement apartment scheme comprising 20 apartments.

The units will consist of three penthouse apartments of 2,200sq ft each, 14 two-bedroom apartments of 1,200sq ft each, and three one-bedroom apartments of 750sq ft each. All apartments within the scheme will have the benefit of large balconies, basement car parking and communal gardens. The three large penthouse apartments at fourth and fifth floor levels will have extensive wraparound terraces.

A 19-bedroom guest house stands on the site. Cedar Lodge extends to a gross internal area of 872sq m (9,386sq ft) and is available with vacant possession.

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Locality

The site has extensive road frontage to Merrion Road of about 34 metres with nearby neighbours the British Embassy and the five-star Intercontinental Hotel located just across the road.

No 98 is also in close proximity to the RDS and Aviva Stadium.

More significantly, the property sits just 400m from the location of social media giant Facebook’s new European headquarters. The campus, the first phase of which is under construction on the Merrion Road side of AIB’s Bank Centre headquarters, will, upon completion, be capable of accommodating more than 7,000 employees.

In terms of its wider accessibility, the site is also close to Dublin city centre and has excellent transport links. Several bus routes pass outside the property's front gate, while Sandymount Dart station is within a five-minute walk.

Selling agents Nicholas Corson and Ian Finnegan say: “We anticipate there would be very strong demand for the end product which should easily blend into this exclusive area.”

Ronald Quinlan

Ronald Quinlan

Ronald Quinlan is Property Editor of The Irish Times