RedevelopmentLand:The former Unilever/Lyons tea premises on Davitt Road, Dublin 12, is for sale by tender. The large site of more than eight acres with extensive frontage on Davitt Road and adjacent to two Luas stops is expected to sell for over €45 million.
HOK last year sold a site of 0.83 hectares (2.06 acres) with frontage of around 152 metres to Davitt Road and the Luas red line for €16 million. It housed a Dulux paint storage and distribution facility, and was bought by a residential developer.
The attraction of the site currently for sale at Goldenbridge is its mixed-use potential subject to planning. It is zoned objective "Z6" in the Dublin City Council Development Plan 2005-2011 "to provide for the creation and protection of enterprise and facilitate opportunities for employment creation".
Yet given that the site is surrounded by residential development and lies alongside the Luas line with a 190-metre frontage onto Davitt Road, mixed-use zoning is highly likely given the council's own views on the development of objective "Z6" lands.
The joint selling agents, Lisney and DTZ Sherry FitzGerald, point out that the council is of the opinion that Z6 lands "constitute an important land bank for employment use in the city which it is considered strategically important to protect. A number of accessible mixed-use inner suburban sites which were zoned Z6 have been rezoned Z10 to permit a wider range of mixed-use development."
It doesn't get more "inner suburban" than this 3.52 hectare (8.7-acre) site. It lies 3.2kms west of the city centre. The Luas - from Blackhorse station at the top of Inchicore or from the Drimnagh station - will get you to O'Connell Street in about 15 minutes.
The property on offer includes a large industrial building with offices and ancillary buildings providing a gross floor area of about 10,000sq m (107,000sq ft). It is the land holding that will attract the interest of developers, however, because of its proximity to the city and transport routes into and away from Dublin. It lays no more than five minutes drive from the beginning of the Naas Road/N7. Yet it lies along the Grand Canal and is only two or three minutes drive from Suir Road at its junction with the canal.
Uses permitted or open for consideration under its existing "Z6" zoning include residential, restaurant, local shop, office, warehousing (retail, non-food, retail park), light industry, hotel or live workshop to name a few.
In recent years the area has seen strong demand from builders and developers seeking opportunities in a neighbourhood that has seen much regeneration. Lisney's Ross Shorten strongly believes that the site is likely to see a significant residential component given the surrounding area, transport links and the council's own view on Z6 land development.
"Over the past year a number of these properties have been sold on the open market to developers who are keen [subject to planning permission] to construct mixed-use schemes incorporating large residential elements to take advantage of the excellent Luas services and the close proximity to the city centre," according to the agents.
The property goes to tender on May 30th.
Unilever Ireland announced its intention to close its Goldenbridge manufacturing centre in September 2006 following a review of its manufacturing operations across Europe. Its full product range will continue to be available on the Irish market and its closure at Goldenbridge has no effect on other Unilever operations here.
