The 1.25-acre site has permission for 60 large apartments, some of which will have views across Dublin Bay, writes Jack Fagan

One of the best located ready-to-go apartment sites to be brought to the Dublin market in recent years goes for sale today.

Estate agent Finnegan Menton is seeking over €17 million for the former Europa garage at Newtown Avenue in Blackrock where planning permission has been granted for 60 large apartments, many of them set to have spectacular views over Dublin Bay. The site of 1.25 acres is located on a corner of Newtown Avenue along the "old road" between Blackrock and Monkstown. The relatively quiet enclave - within 500 metres of the centre of Blackrock - will undoubtedly appeal to couples trading down from large houses in the area and investors looking for a solid south Dublin location close to the Dart service.

The overall design by architects Conroy Crowe Kelly provides for two five-storey blocks with a sweeping forecourt and garden area. The high level of spaces in the basement car park - 105 - means that owners of one-bedroom apartments will each have one space while others can have two spaces each. There will be 41 two-bedroom apartments, 15 one-bedroom units and four two and three-bedroom penthouses. With an ever-increasing emphasis on space, the apartments are considerably larger than usual.

One-bedroom units will have floor areas from 50.16-75.76sq m (540-815sq ft); two-bedroom apartments will range from 72.9-111.4sq m (785-1,200sq ft); while the two and three-bedroom penthouses will average around 139.3sq m (1,500sq ft). There will be one particularly large penthouse of 218.3sq m (2,350sq ft) with a wraparound terrace extending to almost the same space.

Iain Finnegan, managing director of Finnegan Menton, says that developers opting for high quality apartment schemes such as the one planned for the Europa garage site have been well rewarded with prices from €10,764 per sq m (€1,000 per sq ft). He believed the penthouses, in particular, would be "hard fought for".

Based on the prices available for similar properties at the top end of the market, it is expected that two-bedroom apartments will sell from possibly €800,000 to more than €1.2 million for the largest units. Penthouses should fetch around €1.5 million with the largest home making over €2.5 million.

The Europa Garage, owned by O'Flaherty Holdings, traded for many years on the site where two former tramyard sheds were converted into motor showrooms. The two buildings, along with a service garage on the site, have a combined floor space of 2,136sq m (23,000sq ft).

The site is to be sold at tender on June 7th.