Stillorgan Leisureplex site for €10m

The Leisureplex site in Stillorgan sold for €65 million in 2006

– now it’s back on the market for €10 million through DTZ Sherry FitzGerald.

It is being sold on the instructions of joint receivers, Declan McDonald and William O’Riordan, of PwC.

The 2.17 acres, which front the Lower Kilmacud and Old Dublin roads, is zoned district centre under the local development plan and could accommodate a significant mixed-use scheme that would greatly enhance what is a poorly presented village centre pockmarked by vacant sites.

However, any proposed development would probably face stiff local opposition. Treasury Holdings, which bought the Leisureplex site in 2006, failed on many occasions to secure planning permission to redevelop the 8.5-acre Stillorgan Shopping Centre site across the road.

Loans associated with the centre, which was Ireland's first shopping mall when it opened in 1966 and is little-changed since, ultimately ended up with Nama and were bought by US investment fund Kennedy Wilson in 2013. It applied for a modest revamp of the 50-store centre last June.

The Leisureplex site, augmented by lands adjoining the N11 to the rear, was the subject of a substantial planning application in 2005 which was given the green light by the council but rejected by An Bord Pleanála.

Back then, the former owners – developers Ciarán and Colum Butler – wanted to replace the bowling and games complex with 314 apartments, a library, gym, commercial and retail space, and a new Leisureplex in 15 blocks incorporating a 15-storey tower.

But the appeals board ruled that the development would be premature pending the adoption of a local area plan for Stillorgan.

Today, the lands are earmarked as an important district centre development site under the existing and draft Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown county development plans. Both plans encourage high-density development of the site but not on the scale of that grandiose Celtic Tiger era scheme that fell foul of the planners.

High-quality redevelopment of the village centre is also a key focus of the plan, with the creation of a civic core area and mixed-use commercial and residential space.

The plan sets a benchmark building height of five storeys – which may be reduced within 25m of residential housing – but the Leisureplex site could have potential for one of two nine-storey landmark buildings proposed under the plan near the Kilmacud Road/N11 junction.

There could also be development synergies in conjunction with adjoining properties. The proposed redevelopment of the site in 2005, for example, included council-owned lands to the rear – where the developers and council had reached a sale agreement – and this brought the site area up 3.93 acres.

A recent report also recommended that Glenalbyn Swimming Pool, which closed suddenly in December 2013 over fears its roof might collapse, should be rebuilt at a cost of €10 million on the site of Stillorgan Library, which is adjacent to the N11 and Leisureplex. The closure of this much-used facility, on the grounds of Kilmacud Crokes GAA club, caused major angst in the area and forced the well-known Glenalbyn Swimming Club to seek alternative accommodation.

Swimming pool

Despite this setback and due to the efforts of a determined group of parents, the swimming club has survived and prospered. One of its number,

Katie Baguley

, represented Ireland with great distinction in the 1,500m freestyle (placing ninth overall) at last year’s European Games in Azeribaijan.

It will be interesting to see, therefore, if any future redevelopment of the (enlarged) Leisureplex site could incorporate a new Glenalbyn swimming pool.

It would certainly sweeten any proposed development in the eyes of local people.

As things stand, Leisureplex occupies the 3,716sq m (40,000sq ft) 1960s-built structure on site under a short-term tenancy agreement which expires on February 29th. A one-year renewal of its lease is currently under discussion but the firm has no automatic renewal rights.

Also included in the sale are 62 and 63 St Laurence’s Park, two semi-detached houses towards the northern boundary of the site. The agents estimate that the potential short-term rent roll from the site is around €250,000.

Stillorgan was the subject of many large-scale planned developments during the boom years – none of which ever materialised – and it has stagnated while other nearby locations, such as Dundrum, have prospered. The sale and redevelopment of the Leisureplex site could reverse that trend.