The immense shortage of high-quality apartments for renting in Dublin has persuaded one of the city's best-known developers to let rather than sell an entire new development being completed at 150 Howth Road in Clontarf, Dublin 3. The £10 million (€12.70m) scheme is among the most stylish in the city and includes 82 apartments and three large houses.
It is being developed by the MKN Property Group, a family-owned firm led by Sean McKeon and his sons Brian and John.
Even as the company put the final touches to the entrance last Friday, more than two thirds of the homes had already been booked by Irish and international companies and a foreign airline running services through Dublin Airport. It is no longer necessary to advertise apartments such as these given the intense competition for rental properties in the city.
With virtually all investors out of the residential sector for the past three years because of the Government's harsh tax measures, the rental market has contracted and the number of new developments in the city has fallen significantly, with rents going through the roof.
The apartments at 150 Howth Road will be the first large-scale development to be offered for rent in the city since the Government endorsed the last Bacon Report in April 1998.
MKN Property Group says this has been made possible because of the relatively low site costs involved - it bought the original three-quarters of an acre at auction for £750,000 (€952,304) and assembled four adjoining pieces of land over a two and a half year period. The planners' decision to allow a high-density development only three minutes' walk from Killester DART station and the fact that rents have risen rapidly in the meantime have made it possible to opt for rentals rather than sales. However, like all residential investors, MKN will not be able to claim tax relief on mortgage interest payments as long as the Bacon measures remain in place.
Had the company opted for an office scheme rather than apartments, it could have availed of full mortgage interest relief.
Having provided a superb "five-star finish" to its apartments, MKN is achieving the same level of rents as it has been getting for its apartments at Herbert Park Lane in the centre of Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. One-bedroom apartments at Howth Road are renting for between £900 and £1,100 (€1,142-€1,396) per month. The two-bedroom units are making from £1,200 to £1,400 (€1,523-€1,777); two/three-bedroom duplex homes are fetching from £1,450 to £1,650 (€1,841-€2,095) while three-bedroom apartments are renting from £1,500 (€1,904). MKN also offers a corporate package (like bed linen, delph and glassware, TV and video) at an extra £100 (€127) per month, depending on the length of the letting. Rental periods vary from one month upwards. The group also operates rented apartments at the Merrion Village on Merrion Road and at Ashbrook, also on the Howth Road in Clontarf.
MKN is obviously taking enormous pride in its latest apartments at Howth Road which have been designed and finished to a high specification. Master builder Sean McKeon worked closely with architect Jim Pike of O'Mahony Pike to devise an innovative block focussed on impeccable grounds on one side and even more stunning views on the opposite side - Clontarf Golf Club's mature and wooded course. There is an uninterruped view across the DART line on to the 12th green and a miniature lake along the boundary fence.
The apartment block is distinguished by a central atrium running the full length of the 350 ft long building. All apartments look out into a particularly bright central area dominated by shrubs, trees and flowers which obviously thrive in the constantly heated temperature. Many of the apartments on the upper floors have dining areas projecting out into the open corridors.
Interiors reflect the increasing demand for generous proportions, and to accommodate modern lifestyles, high-spec and crisp, utilitarian-style kitchens and bathrooms have been fitted. Livingrooms are full of light and atmosphere because of the full size windows. Furnishings are in line with the high standard of the complex.
