If you want your next address to be The Penthouse, Millennium Tower, Charlotte Quay, Dublin 4, then your chance to own one of the most exclusive apartments to hit the Irish property market is coming soon.
A place at the top of the acclaimed 16-storey Millennium Tower is expected to come with an equally exclusive price tag. Hooke and MacDonald are not quoting a guide price but it would be no surprise if it makes £1.5 million, or possibly more - which would make it Dublin's most expensive apartment ever. Final receipt of tenders for the penthouse will be on September 26th.
At the top of Dublin's first high-rise apartment block, it comes with what can only be described as jaw-dropping panoramic views. The ultimate rock star pad, it has already been viewed by Bono although it remains to be seen if he will actually put in a bid.
Whoever buys it will undoubtedly do so for its clever design, which maximises stunning views of the city and gives you a sense of being master of all you survey. Built by Zoe Developments and designed by O'Mahony Pike architects, Millennium Tower has been praised for its well-proportioned and elegant ade. facade. Only one lift goes all the way to the 1,900 sq ft penthouse - which has its front door on the 15th floor - but to get there you will need to have access to the secret code.
There is an instant "wow" factor when you step into the rooms of the lower floor with their mesmeric views. This is particularly true of the vast kitchen where you can see Lansdowne Road stadium and the Dublin mountains on one side and Croke Park, the IFSC and Dublin Airport to the other, all through giant pine-framed windows.
These windows, which span almost the entire width, and most of the length, of the wall - on three sides in some rooms - are a feature of the lower floor: on entering a room, they have an almost dizzying effect as the city buzzes around you. While the apartment has a mostly neutral, muted colour-scheme - the kitchen deviates with a space-age twist. The units are silver chrome-effect and incorporate a metallic Bosch microwave. Included in the sale is an integrated dish washer, a fridge, separate freezer, a cooker and a washing machine. One of the things that lets it down in the rock-star stakes is the fact that you won't find that staple of the stereotypical penthouse, the obligatory jacuzzi or sunken bath. This penthouse comes with few gimmicks.
The most you can hope for is a ceramic oval bath in the main bedroom en suite - but the licentious thrill of performing one's ablutions in front of the whole city would surely make up for it. Many of the fixtures and fittings are tasteful but functional - for example the cherrywood fitted wardrobes in the spacious main bedroom and the smaller guest bedroom. The third bedroom/studio/ office is small, with access to a balcony overlooking the industrial landscape of the docklands. Other features of this floor include a bathroom and a hot press. The guest bedroom comes with an en suite bathroom with power shower.
A spiral staircase leads up to a spacious atrium-effect living room on the 16th floor with 16-ft ceilings and breathtaking surround-screen views of Dublin. A 500 sq ft timber floored private terrace off the living room is the piece de resistance. From here you can see the Wellington Memorial in the Phoenix Park. A narrow gravel path skirts the rooftop on two sides.
A car parking space will cost an additional £35,000. The Ocean bar/restaurant on the ground floor has been open for five months and is reported to be trading well.
There are two smaller penthouse apartments, one on the 13th floor and the other on the 14th, which will be released later in the autumn, along with another ten two and three-bed apartments.
