Adamstown project rises from the ashes
It’s full steam ahead for 177-house recession-delayed development
THROUGHOUT the recession, the intercity trains that sped through the Adamstown rail station in west Dublin whizzed past a black advertising hoarding lining a fenced-off vacant site. This promised a glamorous lifestyle at Ireland’s first planned town since building in Shannon begun in the 1960s to house airport workers and their families.
Behind the ad banner stood a colourful behemoth of a building that was once home to a marketing suite selling mock-ups of apartments in Adamstown - a lonely giant plonked in the middle of disused land overgrown with weeds. To the uninitiated, the scene was symbolic of the Celtic Tiger’s folly.
On Monday, the autumn air outside Adamstown Train Station was filled with the sounds of renewed building activity. Less than 200m away, construction trucks were trundling past the old marketing building and workers in high-vis jackets put the finishing touches to nearby showhouses for Alderlie. Tomorrow, the Castlethorn Construction development will become the first large housing scheme to launch in Adamstown in a decade. When it is finished, Alderlie will have 177 homes.
Due to Adamstown’s location near national and suburban rail and road networks, it was designated a Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) in 2003, the first to earn an SDZ status in the country. The new town was originally designed to have 10,000 homes, housing 25,000 inhabitants by next year. But between 2005 and 2009, only 1,500 houses and apartments were completed as the property market ground to a halt, according to William Lavelle, a local Fine Gael councillor.
Many planners deemed it the right concept at the wrong time. Its railway station was opened by Bertie Ahern in 2007 at the peak of the property bubble. Lavelle said: “A lot of people who bought into Adamstown were very happy with the concept of a new town. But there was a real frustration that facilities did not develop as expected as a result of the suspension of development and a real fear that Adamstown would be left unfinished. Now it’s more positive: developments have restarted, more infrastructure is coming on stream, and the council is applying this week for funding for a new public park.”
There is a cafe, fast-food outlet and hairdressers within Adamstown and, just outside the development on Lucan’s Newcastle Road, there is the Lord Lucan pub, a pharmacy and a smattering of retail outlets. The price point will appeal to first-time buyers seeking a three-bed home within a short commuting distance of Dublin City centre. The first phase of Alderlie will consist of 57 two-storey homes, with three-beds priced from €270,000 and four-beds costing from €345,000. The development has a mix of house styles and interior layouts.
The homes, designed by the leading architecture firm O’Mahony Pike, feature terraced, semi-detached and detached versions. Child-friendly public open spaces are dotted throughout sections of the development.
The first of the nine house types, a three-bed home extending over 1,140 sq ft, is available either with or without a utility room, with the latter opening up more space in the kitchen/dining room to create a bigger open-plan area and allowing for patio doors to the back garden. Type 3, a four-bed home with box windows out front, has 1,410 sq ft of internal accommodation in an L-shaped layout, with a lounge area towards the front of the kitchen/diner.
The houses have fitted kitchens, with appliances included if contracts are signed within 28 days, and each master bedroom has an ensuite. There are fitted wardrobes in each bedroom, including walk-in wardrobes for the master bedroom in some house types.
The properties at Alderlie have an A3 BER and come with energy-saving features such as roof-mounted PV panels and a Climote system controlled remotely through a smartphone app.
Alderlie is just a two-minute walk from Adamstown station, from where trains depart for Heuston twice an hour in the morning, a commute which takes just 15 minutes. The reopening of the Phoenix Park tunnel is earmarked for the start of 2017 at the latest, which will enable commuter trains from Adamstown to travel directly to the Grand Canal Dock and IFSC. Dublin Bus has promised departures for a more direct service to the city centre from Adamstown and motorists can use a new road network linking to the N4, N7 and M50.
The first viewings at Alderlie will be held between 1pm-4pm tomorrow and Sunday, with the five showhouses opening again Monday to Friday, between 2pm-4pm.