A RESIDENTIAL site of 7.8 acres at Barrow Street, off Grand Canal Street, Dublin 4, is likely to make between £5 million and £7 million when it is sold by tender on September 6th. The development land lies between a prime office location and the expensive housing and hotel area of Ballsbridge.

Estate agents Donal O'Buachalla, who are advising Bord Gais Eireann (BGE) on its property portfolio, are to start a marketing campaign next week to dispose of the site which has frontage on to Barrow Street and South Lotts Road.

It is the most valuable parcel of land to have come on the market in Dublin 4 since the 5.5-acre Johnston Mooney and O'Brien site in Ballsbridge was sold in 1992 for £5.6 million.

The demand for housing sites on the south side of the city has intensified since then because of the enormous strength of the new homes market.

Con Cronin of the selling agents said the site could accommodate a mixed development of new homes, offices, a hotel or leisure scheme with the old metal frame of the gasometer the centrepiece of the project.

The city planners have not yet given any indication of the size of a development they would allow on the site but one expert suggested yesterday that the 7.8 acres could accommodate between 600 and 1,000 new apartments as well as at least 50,000 square feet of offices.

Irish Rail is planning to open a DART station at Barrow Street, mainly to facilitate people residing or working in new apartment and office buildings planned for the former Irish Meat Packers site.

Cosgraves have secured planning permission for 199 apartments on part of the site. The developer Ken Rohan is to use the remainder of the site for an office scheme.

The steel frame of a Victorian gasometer on the South Lotts end of the site is listed for preservation. However, it would be open to the new owners to seek permission to demolish it.

The Barrow Street site was used for gas storage rather than gas production. Investigations have shown that it has some traces of contamination which will have to be dealt with before any development takes place.

BGE will require the purchasers comply with health and safety and environmental regulations. As a condition of the sale, they will also ensure that appropriate remediation measures are properly undertaken where required".

The site is located within one of the rejuvenation areas identified in the Dublin City Development Plan. Donal O'Buachalla is marketing the Barrow Street site in conjunction with its associate company, Grimley International, which has advised British Gas on the disposal of a number of contaminated sites in the UK.

BGE also plans to dispose of 22-acres of land at the Grand Canal Docks which was used for gas production. Dublin Corporation has already granted planning permission for 1,300 apartments, a hotel, leisure facilities, light industrial units and several office blocks.

It is understood that BGE plans to carry out further tests on the site to establish how badly it is contaminated by decades of town gas production.