Maxol opts for apartments over petrol at second site

FORECOURT operator Maxol has opted to build housing instead of a petrol station at another of its key sites in Dublin.

The Irish petrol retailer has applied for planning permission to build 29 residential units at a prominent site it owns in the centre of Saggart village, in south west Dublin.

The plan follows a similar proposal by Maxol to construct a new five-storey, 90-unit apartment building in place of a prominent petrol station it operates in Sandymount in Dublin 4.

That proposal would see the petrol station and a nearby car dealership demolished.

Maxol — which is owned by the McMullan family — is one of the largest petrol retailers in the country, with 230 service stations, half of them owned by the company.

Chief executive Brian Donaldson, inset, has said previously that the company is looking to diversify to insulate itself against the effect of electric cars on the forecourt business.

Maxol has made a big push into the booming food services business, but has also established a “fighting fund” for potential acquisitions.

Booming property prices driven by a housing shortage are likely to have caught the eye of the petrol retailer. New figures last month showed that property continued to rise at double-digit rates with prices at national level increasing by 12.4pc in May over the last year. Warnings of a slowdown in residential property prices in Dublin came to fruition with prices up 10.7pc in May compared to 13pc in April. If approved by South Dublin County Council, the Saggart scheme will see the refurbishment of a pub and its change of use to an office. The plans to build four apartment blocks also include two retail units. The local authority has already agreed to allow the application to include a portion of land it owns itself in exchange for the provision of some social housing on the site.