A site with planning permission for a large office, retail and apartment scheme is to be sold by tender next month. Jack Fagan reports.

One of the best located development sites for Dublin city over the next decade is being sold by tender next month by the Office of Public Works and Osprey Property Ltd, the property development subsidiary of Eircom plc, at a guide price of €60 million.

Westgate at Kilmainham is predicted to do for the western edge of the city what the IFSC did for its eastern edge more than a decade ago.

It is a 3.32 hectare (8.2 acre) site near Heuston Station, bordering the formal gardens of the Royal Hospital, St John's Road and Military Road, and overlooking the River Liffey.

The site has full planning permission for a mixed use scheme designed by architects Anthony Reddy & Associates, which includes 17,442 sq m (187,743 sq ft) of offices, 1,505 sq m (16,199 sq ft) of retail and 281 apartments, as well as a new building for the nearby Irish Museum of Modern Art and a hotel.

Confirmation that the sale is to go ahead comes at a time when ever more development land is coming on the market, particularly in the provinces.

This week alone, 260 acres, most of it zoned for industrial develoments and warehousing, beside Newbridge goes for sale by tender with a guide price of over €45 million.

It is one of the largest tracts of zoned land to go for sale in recent years.

Another important parcel of land for town centre activities is due to come on on the market shortly in the eastern region.

In Wexford, Finnegan Menton is expected to secure more than €4 million for the former Beacon Night Club site in Courtown which has planning permission for 34 apartments, eight shops and a supermarket.

Also in Wexford, a housing site of 38 acres in Gorey is expected to fetch well over €10 million. An ever increasing number of commuters are moving to towns such as Gorey because of the vastly improved road network.

Selling agent DTZ Sherry FitzGerald is also handling the sale of a 5.8-acre site in Athy which has outline planning permission for 150 apartments overlooking a new marina.

In Dublin, most of the major developers and several consortia are certain to pitch for the Westgate site because of strong prices still available for apartments in this area and the increasing evidence of a recovery in the city office market.

"This is a hugely important site whose development will create a new dynamism on the western edge of the city, making it a distinctive, exciting and important part of the fabric of the whole city," said Des Lennon of Jones Lang LaSalle.

"Westgate will provide the focal point for the development of this whole area of the city which has already begun.

With excellent transport links - by Quality Bus Corridors, Luas and rail - it is also within walking distance of many of the city's amenities and accessible to the rest of the country by rail and through the M50."

The OPW's announcement of a sale follows its decision to seek planning permission on a neighbouring site on the other side of Military Road in order to encourage development of the area and capitalise on the State's assets there.

This development, currently with An Bord Pleanála, includes proposals for a 32-storey tower, which, if successful, would be Ireland's tallest building.

Between the two sites, there will be approximately 150,000 sq m (1.614 m sq ft) of new accommodation.

Part of the Westgate site fronting on to St John's Road is being retained by Eircom for a new headquarters.

It has planning permission for 19,699 sq m (212,038 sq ft) of offices in Westgate and work is well advanced on the detailed design of its new facility which will become a central feature of the area.

Westgate is part of the Heuston Framework Development Area bounded by St John's Road, Military Road and the Royal Hospital Kilmainham.

Dublin City Council aims to develop the area into a new urban gateway centre which will be focused on Heuston Station with a mix of offices, residential, cultural, retail and other services.

The area has already seen considerable residential development in neighbouring Inchicore, Kilmainham and along the River Liffey.

The latest development, at the Old Chocolate Factory, virtually sold out from plans in a matter of days recently.

Tenders close with the OPW on May 19th.