Get tight with the green belt
Beechwood, Hansfield, Dublin 15 ASKING PRICE: From €285,000 AGENT: Kelly Walsh (01) 664 5500
DURING the inception of the Celtic Tiger, many of the stud farms around Dublin were acquired and redeveloped into large residential estates. Among them was the Ongar Stud, close to the Co Meath border.
The land eventually came into the hands of Manor Park Homes, which set about building a new village called Ongar on its grounds.
Just outside Ongar is Hansfield, a new town designated in the Noughties as a strategic development zone (SDZ) intended to fasttrack the development of up to 3,000 homes in tandem with amenities such as schools, roads and transport. Hansfield sits to the north of a , and on towards the Carton Estate in Maynooth.
However, progress at Hansfield was stymied by the property crash and recession. Its train station, completed in 2010, didn’t open to passengers until 2013 because an access road to the building had not been constructed.
Hansfield Investments, which is part of McGarrell Reilly Group, bought tracts of land owned by Manor Park from the developer’s receiver and continued building on the site, and more homes were built at Barnwell from 2015.
More than 150 homes were sold at Barnwell before the developer moved on to Beechwood. This new scheme, situated off the Ongar Road, will have 127 houses when it’s finished. It has been divided into two elements, with the first 80 homes called Beechwood Gate. Thirty houses will be released to the market this weekend.
The homes were designed by architects Conroy Crowe Kelly to appeal to a variety of purchasers — from first-time buyers and families seeking more space for their growing brood to downsizers — so there is a mix of house types available with a slew of exterior finishes.
The smallest style is a two-bed townhouse with 947 sq ft of living space and is priced from €285,000. There are also three-bed townhouses and semi-detached styles for sale, with sizes ranging from 1,184 sq ft to 1,240 sq ft. Accommodation at the four-bed semi-detached type ranges from 1,410 sq ft to 1,572 sq ft. The facade of each house is complemented by a cobble-lock driveway with enough space for two cars.
The interior finishes have a contemporary edge, including the kitchen units with soft- close drawers and Kitchen Elegance doors.
A Climote system at the A3-rated homes will enable residents to control their gasfired central heating and hot water remotely via a smartphone app. PV solar panels on the roof will reduce utility bills.
The Hansfield Educate Together national and secondary schools are across the road.
While prospective residents can commute using the M3 and M50 motorways, the agent says commuters to Dublin city centre won’t need a car because of the rail services to the IFSC and Dublin Docklands. Hansfield is also served by the Quality Bus Corridor that facilitates the 39 and 39a Dublin Bus routes to UCD through the city centre.
The five new showhouses at Beechwood will open tomorrow, between 12pm and 2pm, with viewings continuing at the same time on Sunday.