Dublin's largest housebuilder - Menolly Homes - is about to embark upon a massive mixed-use scheme on a prime nine-acre site in the centre of  Warsaw, writes Jack Fagan

Dublin's most prolific housebuilder, Seamus Ross of Menolly Homes, has acquired one of the best located large development sites in the Polish capital of Warsaw. It is likely to be used for a high quality hotel, shopping, offices and more than 700 apartments.

Ross is believed to have paid over €30 million for nine acres on the edge of the city facing directly over the River Vistula. Part of the site accommodates a disused coal-fired power station owned by the Swedish company Vattenfall.

Menolly emerged as the preferred bidder for the high profile site after a six-month tendering process which attracted interest from some of the largest construction companies in eastern and central Europe.

It is the first major venture in eastern Europe by Menolly which is expected to build up to 1,500 new homes in the Dublin area this year. The company is also opening three hotels: Dunboyne Castle; the Dillon in the former Hibernian Hotel on Upper Baggot Street; and a new boutique hotel, Hybla Hotel, at Farmleigh next to the Phoenix Park.

The Warsaw site is located on the eastern side of the city within a 10-minute walk of the main business district and the old town. The plot occupies almost an entire block close to the recently completed Wislostrada tunnel which handles most of the north-south motor traffic.

It is planned to open a new east-west metro link through this area with a station proposed for the southern boundary of the Menolly site.

Menolly's arrival in Warsaw coincides with a sharp demand for new homes following the introduction of mortgages for the first time since Poland joined the EU.

The company expects to get planning permission for at least 700 apartments in a five to seven-storey building, a five-star hotel with at least 180 bedrooms and and about 8,000sq m (86,111sq ft) of shopping and offices. Some of the retail facilities will be provided in existing buildings on the site which are listed for preservation.

The former power station is also listed and the intention is to demolish it and rebuild it in the same style. It stands in a concrete basin and has not led to any contamination of the area.