Sandyford: from €260,000 A new development in Sandyford will have stunning views across Dublin. Jack Fagan, Property Editor, reports

Finding a new home with a good view is well nigh impossible in the Dublin market. For that reason alone there is bound to be strong interest in a new apartment development being launched off the plans today beside the famous Lamb Doyles in Sandyford, Dublin 18, a site with superb panoramic views over much of south Dublin and Dublin Bay.

One-bedroom apartments in the Bracken Hill scheme off the Blackglen Road will cost from €260,000; two-bedroom units will be priced from €305,000 to €360,000 while three-bedroom apartments will be available mainly from €350,000 to €450,000.

Agent Hooke & MacDonald will be taking bookings at a newly opened sales centre on the site where buyers will be able to see the high spec fit-outs due to be used in the kitchens and bathrooms as well as the bedrooms.

Developer Shannon Homes has every reason to feel confident that the 100 apartments being released this weekend will sell quickly because just over a month ago Hamilton Osborne King took bookings for an amazing 175 apartments and houses over the launch weekend on an adjoining site being developed by Michael Cotter of Park Developments.

The prices on both sites are broadly similar but while Shannon will rely on a sales centre to demonstrate the undoubted appeal of the development, Park had show apartments built and ready before going to the market.

The 36-acre Bracken Hill site is high above the city and slopes down gradually as you move through it. Many of the homes, particularly those on the upper floors, will have stunning views over the fast- expanding city, right across the bay to Howth - the same views that for decades has brought couples to drink and dine at Lamb Doyles.

The lower boundary of the site is marked by the newly built South Eastern Motorway (the M50 extension) which will greatly speed access to places like Dublin Airport on the north side of the city.

Many families moving into Bracken Hill will undoubtedly use the Sandyford Luas station to travel to and from the city.

Another attraction is that the development will share the same entrance as Total Fitness, one of Dublin's largest sports and leisure centres which has a full range of facilities including a swimming- pool, indoor running track and squash courts.

Architect McCrossan O'Rourke is handling the development. which will have extensive landscaped areas to separate the various phases of the scheme. Much of the open space will be on the higher ground at the entrance and will be enclosed by a loop road running through a series of terraced gardens stepping down the site. Bracken Hill will eventually have close to 500 homes in a variety of unit sizes as well as a small number of two and three-bedroom houses.

Floor areas count for a lot when it comes to buying an apartment and these units are reasonably large with one-bedroom homes averaging 46 sq m (500 sq ft) and two-bedroom apartments mainly from 69 to 75 sq m (750 to 800 sq ft). For those looking for extra space there are the three-bedroom apartments, which will average 102 sq m (1,100 sq ft). All of them will have either balconies with timber decking or terraces. Each four-storey block will have a high speed lift and designated car-parking spaces at surface level.

Like most developers these days, Shannon will be including a range of electrical appliances in the kitchens. Tiling will be completed in both bathrooms and also in en suite bathrooms, which will be a standard feature in all two and three-bedroom apartments.

The sales centre will be open today, tomorrow and over the weekend. If the first 100 apartments are sold out fairly quickly, it will be no surprise if a further tranche are released immediately.