Treasury Holdings has bought the Leisureplex site in Stillorgan, bringing its landholding in the village - including the local shopping centre - up to 13.5 acres, writes Jack Fagan

Treasury Holdings now owns more than 13.5 acres in Stillorgan village after buying the Stillorgan Bowl Leisureplex for around €65 million.

The acquisition will obviously strengthen the developer's hand when it opens discussions shortly with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council on an overall redevelopment plan for the village.

The company recently held two days of public consultations with local residents in an attempt to secure agreement on a master plan for the area.

Although it is one of the busiest and most prosperous suburbs in south Co Dublin, the village has become rundown looking, due mainly to strenuous local objections to proposed redevelopments.

The Leisureplex, which has just been sold, was a major attraction for young people from many parts of the southside, as is the Bondi Beach nightclub across the road on the former Blake's site.

Ronan Webster of CB Richard Ellis, who apparently advised the owners of the Leisureplex site, was abroad this week and could not be contacted.

The Leisureplex stands on a site of 2.5 acres and has been operated for over two decades by Ciaran and Colum Butler.

Last autumn, An Bord Pleanála blocked a plan by the Butler brothers to redevelop the Leisureplex into a residential, leisure and commercial complex with a 15-storey tower, saying that it would be premature to do so pending a local area plan.

The Butlers wanted to build 314 apartments, a library, commercial and retail space, and a new leisure building and gym in 15 blocks.

This would have involved the demolition of the Leisureplex, a temporary public library building and 18 local authority maisonette units.

The board's ruling overturned the local authority's glowing approval of the Butler scheme which referred to it as "well designed" and "well proportioned" and provided "much needed" residential, commercial and social facilities for the area.

The board's decision also showed amazing inconsistency because, only a month earlier, it cleared the way for a landmark commercial and apartment scheme ranging from six to 12 storeys on the Blake's site on the opposite side of the road.

This scheme will also involve undeveloped land across the N11 at the junction of Stillorgan Park and Stillorgan Park Avenue. Buildings on the two sites are due to be linked by a footbridge.

The Treasury scheme will have a two-level underground car-park, 215 apartments, two restaurants, retail units, a crèche and a gym.

Treasury has not been as lucky with its adjoining shopping centre, having been refused permission to redevelop it on three occasions. The company is now awaiting a decision on a fourth appeal against its plans to redevelop the 40-year-old complex.

The plan is to partially demolish, refurbish and extend the shopping centre which stands on an 8.6-acre site.

This application is a scaled down version of a previous proposal which failed to meet the approval of the planning board.

It is hoped to keep the centre open while the redevelopment is carried out in stages, but it is thought that, with an increasing number of traders planning to move out because of high rents and a loss of business to the new Dundrum Town Centre, more of the traders may bail out before the place is given a new lease of life.