Grehan wins vet college tender with record €171m bid

Ray Grehan's Glenkerrin Homes has won the tender for the former UCD veterinary college in Ballsbridge, beating off competition from Sean Dunne with a record €171.5 million bid.

The Office of Public Works (OPW), which is selling the site for the Government, said the price represents "excellent value for money for the State".

The deal will see Maynooth-based Mr Grehan pay almost €84 million per acre for the 2.05 acre property. This surpasses the €57-€58 million per acre paid by Mr Dunne for the adjoining Berkeley Court and Jurys Ballsbridge properties.

The veterinary college tender will create some ripples in the world of property development because Mr Dunne had been expected to win control of the site. This would have provided him with nine acres of prime development land in affluent Ballsbridge.

Mr Dunne had indicated that he expected the college to achieve a price of up to €115 million.

Mr Grehan was also linked to bids for the two Jurys sites and sources say he submitted the third-highest tender for the Berkeley Court.

The Minister for State at the Department of Finance, Tom Parlon, said the veterinary college property had attracted five tenders. He said the successful bid would allow for "enormous potential redevelopment on this prime city site".

The college fronts on to both Shelbourne Road and Pembroke Road, two of the best-known addresses in Ballsbridge.

The sale is the largest ever to be managed by the OPW and brings the total realised by the office from the sale of surplus State property to more than €300 million. Lambert Smith Hampton was the agent for the deal, which is linked to the Government's decentralisation programme.

Mr Grehan, who could not be contacted last night, is no stranger to audacious bids.

In 2003 he paid €51 million, €15 million above the asking price, for Ballinteer Hall in Rathfarnham, Dublin so that he could access the 24 acres that surrounded it.

More recently, he paid more than €85 million for 11.3 acres fronting on to Dublin's Stillorgan dual carriageway, just four years after it had been purchased for €31.75 million.

Unlike the veterinary college site, both Ballinteer Hall and the Stillorgan site came with planning permission, allowing Mr Grehan to begin selling properties from plans almost immediately.

The Grange development at Stillorgan has already yielded sales of at least €100 million, even though work is at an early stage.

The developer has also become involved in sites without permission, however, with his €31 million purchase of St Loman's Hospital in Palmerstown falling into this category. He has since been refused planning permission for the site but is likely to re-apply.