Development Land: Leading building contractor and developer PJ Hegarty & Sons has paid over €22 million for a high profile apartment site at Booterstown Avenue in Blackrock, Co Dublin.
Selling agent DTZ Sherry FitzGerald had been quoting a guide price of €18 million for the 2.4-acre site.
It has planning permission for 75 two-bedroom apartments and 45 one-bedroom units.
Floor areas for the one-beds are relatively large at 50.5-51.9 sq m (543-558 sq ft) while the two-beds will have 78.9-84.5 sq m (849-909 sq ft).
The selling price works out at over €200,000 per unit after stamp duty and transaction costs are taken into account.
The planning permission allows all apartments to be built with either a balcony or a patio.
The site, currently occupied by single-storey blocks and an office building, occupied by Carr Communications, is at the busy junction of Booterstown Avenue and Stillorgan Road.
It is within a few minutes' drive of both Blackrock and Stillorgan. There is a quality bus service from the dual carriageway in front of the site to the city centre.
The owners of the site, Charles and Edmund O'Reilly Hyland, were originally refused permission by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council but this decision was later overturned by An Bord Pleanála.
However, the board reduced the number of apartments from 129 to 116 and also refused permission for a terrace of six three-bed houses.
Hooke and MacDonald will be handling the marketing of the apartments for P J Hegarty, which plans to provide a high spec finish to all of them. The company has its headquarters in Dublin and employs over 700 people.
It is best known in the construction sector where it has completed a number of major contracts including the Morrison Hotel, the Grand Canal Office Plaza, Kitty O'Sheas, Fingal County Hall and the Conway Institute at UCD.
