Dublin 15: from €400,000 The second phase of the extensive Phoenix Park Racecourse development in Dublin 15 is being launched today.
Selling agent Hooke & MacDonald will be taking bookings for 100 two-bed apartments at a marketing suite in the refurbished gate lodge on the site from today.
The units are larger than usual for city schemes and are priced between €400,000 and €500,000 for two-bedroom units with between 77 and 84sq m (835-905sq ft) of living space.
The scheme, which is being carried out on the 113-acre site by developer Flynn and O'Flaherty, will comprise 2,300 houses and apartments, a national school, restaurants, a town square and a 200-room hotel when it is complete.
An Arrow railway station will be built at the site, linking to Connolly Station in the city centre. The scheme has an estimated capital value of €1.5 billion.
The first phase of the development was launched last May and is expected to be ready for occupation by July this year. Buyers have already snapped up 300 units in this phase. The majority of these are owner-occupiers, many from the Castleknock area.
Units on sale this week will be ready to move into by late 2006, according to the agent.
Architects OMS designed the scheme and all units come with a high quality fit-out. Impressive kitchens have oak fitted units and black granite worktops. Bathrooms have a sealed cistern, Shires sanitary ware and are fully tiled. All bedrooms have crisp white contemporary country-style fitted wardrobes.
The racecourse site is directly adjacent to the Phoenix Park, the largest enclosed urban park in Europe. Entrances to the development will be from the Castleknock Road opposite the Phoenix Park and from the Navan Road.
The scheme is within striking distance of Castleknock village. It is convenient to the city centre and Dublin Airport is close by via the nearby M50.
Almost all apartments in the development will be dual aspect and all will have balconies or terraces.
One underground parking space is included in the price of each unit. There is also ample guest parking. The service charge for two-bed apartments is expected to be in the region of €1,200 to €1,300 a year.
The racecourse opened in 1902 and was at the height of its popularity in the 1950s. After its closure in 1990 it was sold to property developer Patrick Gallagher. Later, an American company, Ogden Leisure, failed in a bid to get planning permission for a €476 million leisure development involving a conference centre, stadium and casino.
The current developer, Flynn and O'Flaherty, which bought the site from Ogden Leisure, has built housing developments at Wainsfort Manor on Wainsfort Road and Whitehall Road in Terenure, and its portfolio also includes high-profile commercial developments such as the Pavilions shopping centre in Swords.
