Tristan Capital seeks to add more units to Cabra site bought from Pat Crean’s Marlet
A FUND managed by Tristan Capital Partners, a real estate investment management company, has applied for planning permission to add more units to a 9.63-acre site it acquired in July.
Seven Cabra Real Estate, which is managed by the London-headquartered Tristan capital, applied last week for permission to build 485 residential units on the former CIE site on Carnlough Road, Cabra, Dublin.
Marlet Property Group, who sold the land to Tristan in a deal believed to be worth around €39m, previously obtained permission from An Bord Pleanála for 420 homes on the same site. The development company, which is headed up by Pat Crean, acquired the Cabra site following the collapse of the property market from a group of investors who bought it in 2004 for about €28m.
Marlet had already started enabling works on the site at the time it was purchased by Tristan Capital, as it was believed to be preparing to develop the area itself.
A notice for the application, which is being made under the terms of the Strategic Housing Development Scheme (SHD), shows the fund is seeking to build nine blocks ranging in height from part single to part two-storey to eight storeys.
Some 484 of the proposed units would be apartments, ranging from single to three-beds. The site would include one two-storey three-bed house.
The application from the developer is also looking for permission to build a convenience supermarket, two retail, restaurant or café units and a gym. One of the blocks is also set to include a cinema room and a co-working space.
All nine of the proposed blocks will include photovoltaic solar panels on their roofs. The development will also have room for 403 car parking spaces and 488 bike spaces.
The permission sought will “amend and supersede” the development currently being undertaken on the site.
Following the acquisition of the Cabra site, Tristan Capital partnered with Royalton Group as development manager, who will also operate the scheme once it is completed. Walls Construction was appointed as contractor to deliver the project.
Under the terms of the SHD, which was signed into law in June 2017, large-scale residential schemes of 100 housing units or more can bypass local authorities and apply directly to An Bord Pleanála. When deliberating Marlet’s original 420-unit application An Bord Pleanála issued a decision in 14 weeks, two weeks ahead of schedule.
Tristan Capital is yet to confirm how much it paid for the Cabra site, but the rumoured €39m was above the €32m guide price set by agent Savills last year.
Elsewhere in the Greater Dublin area, Tudor Homes has applied for planning permission to build 342 residential dwellings on a site in Brennanstown, Dublin. The application by Tudor Homes for the 20.36-acre site shows it plans to build four blocks of 189 apartments, 65 four-bedroom houses and a childcare facility.