Marlet to pay €30m for prime Howth site

DEVELOPER Pat Crean’s Marlet Property Group is to pay more than €30m to acquire a landmark site for hundreds of new homes overlooking Howth Harbour in Dublin, the Sunday Independent can reveal.

Assembled by former Glenkerrin Homes chief Ray Grehan at the height of the boom at a cost of €62m, the 6.61 acre land holding known as ‘Project Pier’ comprises the former Techrete and Teel- ings Motors sites, and could potentially deliver over 340 apartments.

The site already has planning permission in place for two alternative developments.

The first of these allows for 229 apartments and 2,996 sq m (32,246 sq ft) of retail space, restaurants, a creche and leisure centre, while the second provides for 127 apartments, 51 houses, and 2,756 sq m (29,663 sq ft) of retail and commercial facilities.

The first permission is valid until 2021 while the second permission applies up until 2023.

The site’s scope for more than 340 apartments is cited in a feasibility study prepared prior to its being offered for sale last June by Savills on the instruction of receivers, Michael McAteer and Paul McCann of Grant Thornton.

The land’s increased potential comes off the back of the new planning guidelines for apartments introduced by Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy last March.

While Marlet’s intentions for the site remain unclear, industry sources told the Sunday Independent that they expect the developer to pursue a plan similar to the one proposed in the feasibility study.

That plan also provides for 3,395 sq m (36,540 sq ft) of commercial space subject to planning permission.

The €30m plus being paid by Marlet to secure ownership of the Howth site represents a premium of over 16pc on the €25m price quoted by John Swarbrigg of Savills when he brought it to the market.