Redevelopment LandsAnother religious order is to cash in on the high value of its grounds in Dublin.

The Presentation Sisters is to sell its former convent on 1.26 hectares (3.12 acres) of housing land at Terenure Road West in Dublin 6.

Agent GVA Donal O Buachalla is quoting a guide price of over €15 million for the property which is to be sold at tender on April 5th.

The agent has not given any indication of the density likely to be approved by the planners but, given the widely accepted policy of allowing at least four-storey buildings on most sites, it seems inevitable that the convent site will accommodate at least 120 residential units.

The fact that the 800sq m (8,611sq ft) convent is not listed for preservation suggests that it might also be demolished to make way for a further apartment block.

The site is one of the last available in the Terenure Road West area for redevelopment and should attract considerable interest because of the pent up demand for homes in mature south Dublin suburbs.

The Presentation Sisters has owned the Terenure land since 1867 and over the years ran the primary and secondary schools. In 2004, the trusteeship of the secondary school was transferred to the Dublin Vocational Education Committee while the primary schools continue in the trusteeship of the Presentation Sisters. However, no member of the order is currently teaching in the school.

O Buachalla said this week that "neither school will in any way be affected by the proposed sale".