A new investor developer is entering the Irish residential market at a time when there are concerns that some international investors are showing signs of cooling their interest in the sector.
The Hammerson and Allianz Real Estate joint venture, Dundrum Retail Limited Partnership (DRLP), has commenced construction work on 122 apartments along with other facilities on a site at Sandyford Road next to Dundrum Town Centre. To be known as The Ironworks, it will also include co-working space, a residents’ lounge, gym, panoramic terrace and a new coffee shop.
The development is due to be completed by 2025.
That is good news for those seeking residential accommodation in the Dundrum area after recent setbacks for three major developments in the local pipeline. In July, An Bord Pleanála delayed decisions on both DRLP’s 881-apartment development on the site of Dundrum’s old shopping centre project as well as the Land Development Agency’s €378.6m 977-unit scheme for lands at the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum.
In addition, this week it was reported that local objectors have won their legal challenge to An Bord Pleanála’s permission for 115 apartments at Frankfort Castle, Dundrum.
A spokesperson for DRLP said the joint venture intends “to hold and operate the (Ironworks) units as part of the owners’ wider strategy to continue to develop Dundrum as a prime, mixed-use estate”.
In April this year when DRLP lodged its planning application for 881 apartments, a Hammerson spokesperson said that those units, were being designed to the higher build-to-sell standard as it had not yet decided whether to sell them as individual units or as a PRS investment.
This was because the premium price achieved for build-to-rent developments differed relatively little to build-to-sell in middle class areas such as Dundrum.
Unlike most build-to-rent designs, the Ironworks apartments will include only one studio. The others will include 50 one-bedroom units and 56 two-bedroom units at the Ironworks site while the remaining 15 will be one-beds located in Dundrum Town Centre.
In addition nearly 2,000 sqft will be devoted to co-working space, 4,000 sqft to a residents’ amenity and lounge space and 2,000 sqft to a terrace.
