The Links is a crescent-shaped, seven-storey apartment complex overlooking, as its name would imply, Elm Park golf course in the heart of Dublin 4.
The complex is part of Elmpark Green, the vast office and residential scheme off the Merrion Road, developed in 2007 by Bernard McNamara, Jerry O’Reilly and the late David Courtney.
Number 171 the Links, a two-bed apartment on the fifth floor, has an area of 77sq m (828sq ft) and a C1 Ber. It is on the market through Sherry FitzGerald, seeking €450,000.
The entrance hall has a store/cloakroom, and the bedrooms are on the left-hand side of the hall with a living area to the right. Bright porcelain tiles bounce light around the apartment.
Housing in Ireland is among the most expensive and most affordable in the EU. How does that happen?
One in five people expect to pay mortgage in retirement, survey finds
Irish architectural great Ronnie Tallon built a home far superior to Mies van der Rohe’s original. Time to protect it
Sherry FitzGerald CEO Steven McKenna to leave firm to ‘explore new opportunities’
The west-facing living area is bright and sunny, with an enclosed balcony, or sunroom, at its end. Bi-folding doors screen the balcony from the living area, to create a cosier area during winter or shield the apartment from excessive heat in the heights of summer.
The kitchen is compact with integrated appliances including a dishwasher, fridge and washing machine. The wall and floor units are of cherrywood and it has a tiled floor and recessed lighting. The bedrooms are good-sized doubles with floor-to-ceiling double windows that are partially glazed with opaque glass panels for privacy.
Both bedrooms have built-in wardrobes and the same high-gloss tiling as the rest of the apartment. The principal room has a fully tiled en suite and the main bathroom has dual access, from the second bedroom and also from the hall. The owner is currently using the second bedroom to work from home and there is ample space to do so, even with a double bed in the room.
There is an underground parking space with the apartment and central heating is included as part of the management fee, which currently costs €5,800 a year. Overlooking a children’s play area as well as the golf greens of Elm Park, views extend to the Dublin mountains and the dual-aspect apartment is flooded with light.
Among the on-site amenities for residents are two coffee shops, a running track, a gym and visitors’ parking. Cinema nights, yoga classes are also on offer but it’s the location that is likely to draw buyers in as it’s right beside Merrion Road and the seafront, with Booterstown Dart station a 10-minute walk away. RTÉ studios and Sandymount Strand are within walking distance and it’s right beside St Vincent’s hospital. The N11 is on the far side of the golf club, as is University College Dublin’s Belfield campus.
The Gardens
Also on the market within the wider Elmpark Green scheme are the apartments in the newly developed Gardens, a scheme of 77 one- two- and three- bedroom units. For sale through Sherry FitzGerald, the A-rated homes are in an eight-storey-high complex, also overlooking the golf course, designed by Coady architects, and developed by Turkington Rock, a collaboration between interior designer Helen Turkington and Red Rock developments. The one-beds here start at €450,000 while the two- and three-beds are priced from €595,000 and €795,000 respectively.