Stillorgan complex for rental market

Some nine years after a launch which promised “gracious living” for its residents, construction of a new block consisting of 120 apartments in The Grange in Stillorgan, south Dublin, is nearing completion, with the units primed for the rental market.

Financed by Nama, which spent about €14 million funding the construction of the apartments, the development is expected to be completed in the first week of August, with marketing of the units due to start in mid-June through Hooke and MacDonald.

Built by property developer Ray Grehan of Glenkerrin Homes, who paid more than €85 million for the 11.3-acre site in Stillorgan in 2004, a receiver was appointed to the development in 2011. According to Billy Murphy of the receiver Grant Thornton, the apartments will be placed on the rental market “in the short-term”, with a decision yet to be made as to whether or not they might be sold individually, or as part of an overall portfolio sale.

This follows the approach taken by Mazars, receiver of the nearby Nama-funded "The Gates" development in Beacon South Quarter, which also opted to put the 85 newly-completed units on the rental market.

Sixteen one-bed units at The Grange will go on the market at about €1,350 per month; 96 two-beds will be rented from €1,700; while eight three-bed penthouses will be rented for more than €2,750.

Concierge service
The residential part of the scheme is not yet complete, with Nama expected to shortly make a decision on whether or not to construct the final section, Block D, a five-story block of about 56 apartments, which would be built behind Block G.

When the scheme was launched in 2005, prices started at about €425,000 for a one-bed apartment, and one of its major selling points was its 24-hour concierge service. This is still in place, with a staff of six working on the concierge team.

Prices at the scheme, however, have plummeted, with a one-bed selling for €210,000 in February of this year, according to the property price register.

This change in fortunes is also reflected in the approach of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to the development, which now consists of 451 units. In 2008, it entered into a Part V agreement with Glenkerrin to acquire 37 social and 38 affordable housing units.

According to a council spokesman, 37 apartments have already been made available to a voluntary housing body to accommodate families on its social housing list, while a further 14 have been sold to families under the affordable housing scheme.

However, the council will not go ahead and acquire the remaining 24 affordable housing units, due to factors “including the decrease in land values since the time of the original agreement, together with ongoing funding constraints”.