One of the last remaining key sites in D·n Laoghaire is to be redeveloped on a joint venture basis. D·n Laoghaire Harbour Company is to invite developers to put forward a mixed residential and commercial scheme for the high profile 2.2-acre site near the DART station and the ferryport terminal at Crofton Road.

Lisney, which is to market the site, says the harbour board wants to retain part of the completed development as a return on the value of the land.

In a market where site values are continuously falling, it is hardly surprising that Lisney is not putting a value on the D·n Laoghaire land at this stage.

However, while the Harbour Board is unlikely to get anything like the price it would have made even a year ago, there should be still be strong interest in the land because of its superb location and obvious development potential.

A joint venture project of this kind can take months to agree on because of the number of difficult issues to be teased out between the parties, such as the possibility of introducing equity sharing leases and the current value of the site.

Some developers would obviously be reluctant to embark on a joint venture where everything has to be approved by a committee of the harbour board.

The site is highly visible, with almost 300 feet of frontage on to Crofton Road. Though there is currently only one vehicular exit on to Crofton Road, this could be relocated, subject to the agreement of the planners. The boundary of the site is mainly walled, with the Crofton Road side surrounded by singles-storey houses, three of which come with vacant possession.

The Harbour Board, a semi-State company, plans to retain a listed office building on the site, Harbour Lodge, once it has been refurbished. It says it wishes "to secure maximum value from their assets and to ensure a commercial return and value for money for their shareholder".

Housing sites in many areas have fallen in value by up to 25 per cent in the past year and some of them are no longer saleable in the current uncertain market.

The lending institutions are steering away from sites without planning permission and, unlike a few years ago, are insisting that builders provide a a significant share of the equity.

The fall in land values has been triggered by Government policies towards the housing industry, particularly its insistence that up to 20 per cent of sites should be set aside for social and affordable housing.

Hamilton Osborne King is still looking for a buyer for the 13.5 -acre Clancy Barracks in Dublin, four months after it was offered for sale.

Developers have been reluctant to pitch for it because they fear that new apartments developed on the site would be unlikely to fetch top prices while investors are kept out of the market.