Stylish apartments being launched from plans today are part of a major residential and commercial development. Jack Fagan, Property Editor,  reports

The long-running shortage of high quality apartments in Greystones will be eased in the coming months when development work is stepped up on a prestigious new development on the edge of the Co Wicklow town. The apartments are being built at Charlesland and will go for sale off the plans from today at prices ranging from €259,950 for one-bedroom units and from €319,950 for two-bedroom homes.

Location will be a crucial selling point for homes in Seabourne View. The 244 apartments are being built in four three and four-storey blocks looking directly over the carefully-tended grounds of Charlesland Golf Club and the attractive coastline in the background. Some homes will face the Wicklow Mountains.

The first block of 56 apartments going for sale from today will be ready to move into in about 12 months.

There has already been strong interest in the apartments and, according to Ronan O'Driscoll of selling agent Hamilton Osborne King, many of them are likely to be sold to "empty nesters" (couples trading down from large houses in the area whose children have grown up and moved out) and younger people getting financial help from their parents.

Interest is also likely to come from investors, given the immense shortage of such accommodation in the seaside town. The sales campaign will be greatly helped by the fact that Greystones is served by the DART line.

The apartments will form part of a comprehensive residential and commercial development on the extensive Charlesland estate which runs alongside the golf club and the rugby club. A newly-completed road running through the site will eventually link up with the N11, providing easy access to the city for those who prefer to drive rather than use the DART service.

The Charlesland development will be one of the largest outside Dublin and will have a range of shopping, community and sporting facilities as well as a business and technology park.

Close to the apartments, work is already well advanced on a neighbourhood centre which will have a convenience store and other shopping facilities. The joint developers, Ballymore and Mountbrook Homes, are among the largest housebuilders in the Dublin area and both also have extensive building operations abroad.

HOK says there is pent-up demand for new homes in Greystones, where there has been relatively little development in recent years. The town is one of the most attractive within easy commuting distance of the city and will greatly appeal to families looking for a base on the DART line and close to the many attractions in the Dublin and Wicklow mountains.

Ballymore and Mountbrook are opening an impressive sales centre beside the site at Charlesland today, tomorrow and over the weekend, where a replica two-bedroom apartment will be on show complete with all its top class fittings.

Two-bedroom units will vary in size from 74 to 77 sq m (796 to 828 sq ft) and will be available from €319,950. There will also be a selection of one-bedroom units measuring 50 to 53 sq m (538 to 570 sq ft) and costing from €259,950. A number of three-bedroom homes with 96 sq m (1,033 sq ft) are priced from €434,950.

The developers have not skimped on anything, least of all the kitchen, which has been designed to make cooking trouble-free. A full range of integrated electrical appliances comes as a standard feature along with a black granite worktop and a limestone splash back.

Kitchens generally are quite slick and are certain to appeal to viewers. The combined kitchen/livingroom opens out on to a larger-than-usual balcony that will come in handy for al fresco dining.

Bathrooms have also been fitted out to a high specification - not least in the en suites which come with the main bedroom in the two-bedroom apartment. Interestingly, the washer-dryer is located in a large storage space off the hall.

The overall layout is quite innovative and is set to prove a runaway success for the developers.

The same can be said for the two and three-bedroom terraced homes in the adjoining Glen scheme at Charlesland Wood where 240 of the 277 homes have already been sold.

All the three-beds in the current phase have already gone and HOK is now taking bookings for both the two-bed townhouses at €269,950 to €294,950, three-bed duplex units from €314,950 and four-bed duplex homes from €340,950 to €361, 950.