An Australian company involved in the provision of student accommodation has announced plans to spend €36 million on the development of a 313- bedroom residential centre in the south Dublin docklands.

Urbanest has paid Nama over €7 million for 0.68 of an acre at the corner of Sir John Rogerson's Quay and Creighton Street which formed part of a larger site assembled by a consortium led by Derek Quinlan and Bernard McNamara. The Observatory office blocks was built on part of the site.

Urbanest is hoping to have planning approval to allow it begin construction early next year and have the accommodation ready for use by autumn 2015. The company estimated that over 220 direct and indirect jobs will be created during the construction phase.

Nick Porter, chairman of Urbanest, said there was a clear demand in Dublin for their type of accommodation that just wasn't being met at the moment. They were encouraged by the initiatives of both central Government and Dublin City Council in promoting Dublin as an international student city.

The company estimates that there are 70,000 full time students attending Dublin’s nine higher education institutions and a further 100,000 students visiting the city to study English language courses.

Stephen Cassidy advised Urbanest on the acquisition of the site