The McGrath Group, a family business of two brothers and one sister, have been quietly involved in property development since the 1980s. They developed Kinlay House for USIT in 1986 and were behind the first mixed-used building in Temple Bar, Parliament Buildings on the corner of Dame Street and Parliament Street where the first restaurant there opened in 1990.
They have now changed their focus to repurposing empty office buildings into apartments. They purchased The Crofton on George’s Place in Dun Laoghaire, then a disused 1970s office block that they bought for “close to the guide price of €1.3 million or €1.4 million” in January 2013, Mary McGrath, partner with the group explains.
The property had planning to redevelop for residential use. Under architects Conor Fury and Associates they knocked everything bar the exterior walls to build the 25-apartment complex.
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“We were quite active in the Irish market but stopped buying in 2002 and we stopped building here in 2007,” McGrath explains. They moved into the UK and German markets and redeveloped similar properties “learning how to build better common areas and pay attention to detail”, skills that Mary says they’re bringing to the Dun Laoghaire project.
The 25 one and two-bedroom apartments are set around a glass atrium. They have an open-plan kitchen, living/diningroom that is a good size in the two-bedroom units but slightly on the small side in the one-bedroom units. They come with grey and taupe coloured matte vinyl kitchens, complete with appliances and polished granite counter tops. Each of the 25 apartments comes with a stone composite covered balcony made of marine grade steel with access from the livingroom.
There are 15 two-bedroom units for sale and 10 one-bedroom units. Ten of the two-bedroom apartments have sea views with the penthouses boasting views that take in the whole of the bay. One-bedroom apartments range in size from 56sq m to 57 sq m (603sq ft - 614 sq ft). Prices range from €235,000 to €300,000.
Two-bedroom apartments range in size from 75 to 82 sq m (807sq ft to 883 sq ft). Prices range from €395,000 to €475,000. Those with sea views start at €415,000. The penthouses cost €525,000. Anyone who purchases an apartment gets a voucher towards their flooring worth €1,500 to one-bedroom buyers and €2,000 to purchasers of the two-bedroom units.
Each apartment comes with one parking space. Parking is on the ground floor. The properties will have a BER of between B2 and A3.
The property is next door to Frank McKenna’s pub and up the street from another apartment development under construction by Shannon Homes.
