Fifty apartments and penthouses nearing completion on the site of the former British Embassy in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, will set a new benchmark in city rents when they are offered to let from the middle of October. The homes, ranging in size from two-bedroom to four-bedroom, cannot be bought because the owners, Capel Developments, have chosen to hold them as a long-term investment and to rent them at between £600 and £1,600 per week - easily the most expensive in Dublin.
Known simply as 31-33 Merrion Road, it is being promoted as the development with everything and certainly there is nothing else in the city to match it. The apartments will appeal mainly to the upper end of the corporate market which has grown rapidly over the past five years. Some of the units are also likely to be rented by diplomats because of their location in the heart of the diplomatic belt. Each of the units is to be let for a minimum of six months. Capel Developments, now one of the main players in the Dublin apartment market, is currently building 425 apartments and houses at Linden in Blackrock; Riverpark by the River Liffey at the Phoenix Park, and Dunstaffnage, at Stillorgan.
The Ballsbridge apartments and penthouses are easily the most luxurious to have been built in Dublin. They are located in three blocks, 22 of them in the former Victorian embassy buildings which have been remodelled and enlarged. The grounds have been landscaped, with two internal gardens, water features and sculptures. A row of 50 ft high red oak, hazel and other trees imported from Belgium has provided instant maturity and privacy of the grounds.
The apartments will have a high level of security - a porter will be permanently on duty in a lodge alongside the electronically controlled entrance gates. The perimeter of the site is constantly patrolled by gardai because of its location between the new British embassy and the Belgium embassy. The homes also have sophisticated intruder alarm systems. There are 80 spaces in an underground car-park.
The two new apartment blocks are modelled on the Victorian houses on the adjoining Shrewsbury Road. The apartments have the added benefit of huge cast-iron balconies which are focused on the gardens and the Simmonscourt grounds of the RDS.
Internally, the apartments are quite stunning. There are marble and chestnut floors everywhere with under-floor electric heating, cherrywood doors and high ceilings to enhance the proportions of the rooms. There is a remote controlled multimedia audio visual system in all rooms and, for the busy executive, an ISDN line. Kitchens come with a particularly high specification and with every conceivable mod-con, down to a "trash compactor" - a modern version of a garbage bin.
Most of the apartments have two or three bedrooms and a total floor space of between 1,000 sq. ft and 1,500 sq. ft.
For those who want one of the eight penthouses, the rents will obviously be higher. All of them are particularly spacious, none more so than what is called the "super penthouse" with 3,500 sq. ft - more than three times the size of the average Dublin semi. It has self-contained staff quarters, massive reception rooms and a mezzanine study and library. It has two separate terraces with panoramic views over much of the city.
Capel Developments will be renting the apartments at 4080718 or on the Internet at www.capeldev.com
