UrbanRedevelopment: An office and apartment scheme is planned on the site of the second last coal yard in Dublin, which recently sold for €12 million. Jack Fagan reports
Galway developer John Lally is to seek planning permission for a mixed office and apartment scheme at Dunnes Coal Yard off Baggot Street Bridge in Dublin 4, which he has just bought for more than €12 million.
Mr Lally was one of eight developers who tendered for the city's second last coal yard, which has been trading at 50 Percy Place for 110 years.
The last remaining coal yard is still in business at Portobello, Dublin 8.
Keiron Diamond of Ganly Walters originally quoted a guide price of over €8.5 million for the quarter- acre site and later moved the estimate to more than €10 million because of the high level of interest in it from well-established builders.
The site is one of the best available in the south inner city, roughly half-way between Ballsbridge and St Stephen's Green. It is about 150 metres from the junction of Upper Baggot Street and Haddington Road, where there is a good selection of restaurants and bars.
One of the other attractions is that it fronts directly onto the Grand Canal.
The fact that it has both a commercial and residential zoning will ease the way for Mr Lally to secure permission for offices and apartments. Though it is not known what size of development is envisaged, it is thought that it will be divided almost equally between commercial and residential facilities.
A study by architect John Fleming has suggested that if the planners allow a five-storey block in keeping with heights in the immediate area, the site could accommodate 40 one and two-bedroom apartments over a retail or office premises of 125sq m (1,346sq ft). Most of the apartments under this scheme would have been two-bedroom units. There is also scope to provide at least 24 basement car-parking spaces.
Though there is a considerable volume of unoccupied office space in the city, an attractive new scheme on the Percy Place site would undoubtedly attract interest. Similarly, apartments on this site would sell for top prices because of the prime location.
Willie Dowling of CBRE Gunne is advising Mr Lally, who has built several office blocks in south Dublin and is currently developing a large office and apartment scheme known as The Chocolate Factory at Kilmainham.
Mr Lally's company Lalco is also planning to provide a top class hotel and apartments on the ideally located Jurys Doyle site overlooking the River Shannon in Limerick city. The extensive site is located on the busy Ennis road within two minutes' walk of the city centre.
