UNCERTAINTY over the number of apartments which will eventually be permitted by An Bord Pleanala on the last remaining site at St Helen's, in Booterstown, Co Dublin, reduced the number of bidders to three at last week's auction when it was bought by Shannon Homes for £5.6 million.
An Bord Pleanala is to decide shortly on an appeal against the development by local residents. Berland originally applied for planning permission for 321 apartments on the 13.6-acre site but when it ended up with 261 it also lodged an appeal.
The price paid at Friday's auction works out at £410,000 per acre. O'Malley Construction recently paid £1.9 million for 1.6 acres at Dartry - the equivalent of £1.187 million per acre and shortly before that Jackson Properties paid £3.75 million for 2.5 acres at Rathcliff Hall in Sandymount, Dublin 4 - the equivalent of £1.5 million per acre.
Mr Fintan Gunne of the Gunne agency, who handled last week's auction, said that while the Dartry and Sandymount sites produced better prices per acre, the planning at St Helen's was still under appeal by local residents. "There is also a risk insofar that the number of units that will eventually be sanctioned is still uncertain. If the market did not have the present underlying strength it would be impossible to get £5 million or £6 million under those conditions."
