More than 1,400 inquiries have been logged for the final 191 apartments in Dublin's Temple Bar area. Homes in Pudding Row, the first of five schemes in the west end area, are to be sold off the plans on Thursday of next week.
One-bedroom apartments of around 500 sq ft will cost from £150,000 to £165,000, while two-bedroom units between 600 sq ft and 900 sq ft will be priced from £200,000 to £250,000. The 40 apartments going for sale at this stage are being jointly marketed by Temple Bar Properties (TBP)and Hooke & MacDonald.
A special feature of the scheme is that all the apartments will be heated by recycling excess energy from the near by Civic Offices.
Owner-occupiers are to be given priority to buy at least 30 of the 40 apartments in Pudding Row. TBP is to hold an "open day" at its offices in Eustace Street tomorrow and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. to show drawings for the entire development and provide information on tax incentives and a new mortgage package to be offered by First Active.
The "West End" project, which has taken more than five years to bring to fruition, is seen as a model residential scheme in terms of its architecture and urban design. Each of the five elements of the scheme was designed by a different architectural firm. The next three phases will be launched between September and December next and the final block will be ready next spring.
One of the key elements of the overall plan has been the creation of a new north/south street - to be known as Cow's Lane - linking Lord Edward Street with Essex Street on the axis of the former SS Michael & John Church, which now houses the Viking Adventure.
TBP's decision to pitch the marketing programme mainly at owner-occupiers is prompted by a desire "to give the community stability", according to the managing director, Laura Magahy.
There should be no difficult in fulfilling that ambition, given the shortage of new apartments in the city centre and the tax breaks available to owner-occupiers in Temple Bar. Once the first 30 apartments have been sold, investors will have an opportunity to pick up one of the 10 remaining units of the first phase.
TBP has done more than any other developer to raise the standard of design and specification in Dublin apartments. Pudding Row will have an exceptionally wide range of layouts and sizes - 14 in all ranging from one-bed apartments to two-bed duplex units. There will also be one two-bedroom penthouse on the fifth floor, where a roof garden will be located for all the tenants. There will be open-plan livingrooms-cum-kitchens with superb German-made oak kitchen units.
Prices work out at around £320 per sq ft but for that kind of money the fit-out will be infinitely better than in most other city centre developments. All apartments will be served by lifts and there will be a creche.
Designed by architect Anthony Reddy, Pudding Row will have an attractive brick and polished granite facade and a double-height atrium leading to a stainless steel and solid oak stairs. Some of the apartments will look into a new courtyard.
First Active has undertaken to provide mortgages for purchases at discount of the current one-year and four-year fixed rates - 4 per cent on a one-year fixed mortgage and a four-year fixed rate of 3.74 per cent in the first year and 4.75 in years two to four. The deal may well open the way for other developers to invite financial institutions to pitch for similar business at a discount.
