Terenure: from €990,000: Thirty-five houses sold last week at the invitation-only launch of Ballymore's swish new scheme in Terenure. Now a further 20 houses are on sale from €990,000 to €1.995m writes Property Editor Orna Mulcahy.
Potential buyers, curious neighbours, rival developers and a host of property people converged on Wainsfort Road in Terenure last week for the invitation-only launch of College Square, an upscale scheme of houses and apartments being built by Sean Mulryan's Ballymore Homes on the site of the former Eircom Training Centre.
This is a prime location surrounded by mature and leafy roads where second-hand four-bedroom semis regularly fetch in the region of €1 million and three-beds sell for €800,000 plus.
The area is still considered the more affordable side of Terenure. A quarter of a mile away in roads like Fortfield, houses change hands for over €2 million. The appeal of the neighbourhood is obvious with terrific schools within easy reach, and the wide open space of Bushy Park a few roads away. The village has good shops and restaurants, and the M50 is a short drive away.
Local residents groups fought Ballymore's early plans for the development of the 11-acre site, but those in the immediate area must surely be pleased with the first phase of College Square with its handsome terraces of tall redbrick houses, most of which are built and ready to move into before Christmas.
Ballymore sites always have an element of theatre to them, with immaculately landscaped grounds - think fully grown trees and classy planting - acting as a backdrop for a busy cast of Ballymore people - nattily dressed security guards and a huge sales team to guide punters effortlessly from showhouse to show house, champagne glasses in hand. The biggest house on the site, a vast six-bedroom redbrick in a corner position, acts as the sales office, its lofty livingrooms furnished with sales desks and an elaborate buffet of truffles and chocolate-dipped strawberries.
It's not all show, however, as Ballymore consistently delivers high quality housing that looks a little different and is thought out down to smallest detail.
The locals, as it turned out, were impressed. Many of them were among buyers of the first phase of 35 houses which sold out over the weekend. A further 20 houses will be released for sale today ranging in price from €990,000 for a three-bedroom mid-terrace house up to €1.995 million for a five-bedroom detached house. Hamilton Osborne King is handling sales on site, alongside the team from Ballymore.
There are three fully furnished show houses on view - all with a different feel to appeal to the different layers of buyers. Sizes are generous, with three-bedroom mid-terrace houses having 115sq m (1,238sq ft) over two floors; four-bedroom mid-terrace three-storey houses having 154.5sq m (1,663sq ft); larger four bedroom houses, both terraced and semi, having 182sq m (1,959sq ft) and five bedroom detached and semi-detached houses extending to 192sq m (2,072sq ft).
The ultra stylish interior design by the London firm Carter Tyberghein will be sure to be copied by viewers who paid more attention to the wallpaper and bathroom taps than to the price list.
Good ideas are everywhere, from the soothing pale grey of the paintwork to the high double doors that add a sense of grandeur to the reception rooms and open them up to the hallways. Standard features are generous and include natural stone floor in kitchens, dining and utility rooms, carpeting in bedrooms, landings and staircases, fully integrated appliances that include washer driers in the separate utility rooms, and really smart bathrooms with high quality taps and shower heads and plenty of fitted cupboards that turns each ensuite into a useful room.
The fenced back gardens are not terribly large but are designed to provide a patio area, a lawn and a cute garden shed, painted in a quiet heritage colour - a welcome change from varnished boards.
To compensate, there are wonderful communal grounds at the front of the scheme.
Ballymore is continuing to develop the back of the site with four storey blocks of apartments which will come on the market next year. It is also building a leisure centre and spa for residents, one of the first of its kind in a south-side scheme.
