The Danish architect behind Sean Dunne’s high-rise tower for Ballsbridge was today accused of being “cynical” in his design of the site.
Ulrik Rysse of Hennig-Larsen designed the mixed-use commercial, residential and office development, which included a 37-storey, 136-metre tower for the site of the former Jury’s and Berkeley Court hotels.
Mr Rysse told the the An Bord Pleanala hearing on the development that he had originally designed a 32-storey, 119-metre tower for the site because Dublin Spire architect Ian Ritchie was on the judging panel for the Ballsbridge scheme.
Mr Rysse thought that Mr Ritchie would not choose a building taller than the Spire.
Michael O’Donnell, counsel for billionaire businessman Dermot Desmond, who opposes the development, said that Mr Rysse was more motivated by placating judges than design principles.
“The motivation guiding you was the most cynical of exercises merely to placate one of the adjudicators,” Mr O’Donnell said.
Mr Rysse said he merely had regard for the Spire as a possible idea for heights in Dublin.
The hearing continues.
Irishtimes.com
www.buckplanning.ie
Showing posts with label ballsbridge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ballsbridge. Show all posts
Monday, 29 September 2008
Monday, 21 July 2008
Department raises concern over plans for Ballsbridge development
HIGH-RISE plans for the Ballsbridge area of Dublin, currently under appeal to An Bord Pleanála, would have a "significant adverse impact" on its character, according to the Department of the Environment.
In letters to the appeals board, the department's heritage division expressed concern that the scheme, approved by Dublin City Council's planners for the seven-acre former Jurys/Berkeley Court hotel site, is "excessively high".
Minister for the Environment John Gormley - a local TD - is debarred from interfering in the planning process, but he is a statutory consultee under the 2000 Planning Act and would have had to approve submissions to the board. Although the department did not object to the original application, it now says the proposed development would be "contrary to Dublin City Council's policy to protect the architectural character of the area".
The department's intervention, which came in response to a request from the board, is likely to be seen as a potentially serious blow to the plans by developer Seán Dunne, of Mountbrook Homes, for the high-rise cluster.
Mountbrook has said that no development would take place on the hotel's site until a 37-storey tower and another high-rise office block - omitted in the council planners' decision to grant permission last March - were approved.
It said the tower was "an integral element of the proposal and office space is an important part of a mixed-use development". If the appeals board refuses permission, Mountbrook may seek to build more apartments and embassy space on the site.
The planners approved 294 apartments, a 232-bedroom hotel, a shopping centre, an embassy building, cultural centre and a creche.
Three apartment blocks along Lansdowne Road were trimmed from 11 to nine storeys.
An unprecedented 127 appeals were made to the board in this case, of which 87 are supporting the development - including one lodged on Mr Dunne's behalf, seeking the full reinstatement of his scheme as planned.
The heritage division was also asked to comment on plans by Glenkerrin Homes for another high-rise cluster on the adjoining former Veterinary College site, but so far it has not expressed a view.
Its three-page letter to the board recognises the need to redevelop the site, but endorses the city council planners' decision to refuse permission for the proposed 37-storey tower and "other tall elements" of the scheme.
Referring to their approval for blocks of up to 18 storeys, it says these would be "excessive in terms of height, scale and bulk, and would have an adverse effect on the character and setting of a large number of protected structures in the immediate vicinity".
The letter says the excessive scale of the development would "seriously unbalance" the established architectural character of the area and have a "highly negative visual impact" along Lansdowne, Pembroke, Northumberland and Shelbourne Roads.
"The new buildings would introduce incongruous elements into the streetscape and dominate views down each of these roads . . . towering over, by very many storeys. . . predominantly one to four-storey protected structures in the area."
The department also says it has "serious concerns" about the proposal to develop such high-rise buildings a relatively short distance from the "internationally significant Georgian quarter of the south city", around Merrion and Fitzwilliam squares.
It wants the board to "consider whether sufficient consideration has been given to the visual impact of the proposed developments on the surrounding area, an established 19th century suburb containing so many protected structures".
While accepting the need for higher density housing, it says the location of tall buildings in or near historic areas "cannot be considered on an ad hoc basis". Suitable locations must be selected "in the interest of the common good".
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
In letters to the appeals board, the department's heritage division expressed concern that the scheme, approved by Dublin City Council's planners for the seven-acre former Jurys/Berkeley Court hotel site, is "excessively high".
Minister for the Environment John Gormley - a local TD - is debarred from interfering in the planning process, but he is a statutory consultee under the 2000 Planning Act and would have had to approve submissions to the board. Although the department did not object to the original application, it now says the proposed development would be "contrary to Dublin City Council's policy to protect the architectural character of the area".
The department's intervention, which came in response to a request from the board, is likely to be seen as a potentially serious blow to the plans by developer Seán Dunne, of Mountbrook Homes, for the high-rise cluster.
Mountbrook has said that no development would take place on the hotel's site until a 37-storey tower and another high-rise office block - omitted in the council planners' decision to grant permission last March - were approved.
It said the tower was "an integral element of the proposal and office space is an important part of a mixed-use development". If the appeals board refuses permission, Mountbrook may seek to build more apartments and embassy space on the site.
The planners approved 294 apartments, a 232-bedroom hotel, a shopping centre, an embassy building, cultural centre and a creche.
Three apartment blocks along Lansdowne Road were trimmed from 11 to nine storeys.
An unprecedented 127 appeals were made to the board in this case, of which 87 are supporting the development - including one lodged on Mr Dunne's behalf, seeking the full reinstatement of his scheme as planned.
The heritage division was also asked to comment on plans by Glenkerrin Homes for another high-rise cluster on the adjoining former Veterinary College site, but so far it has not expressed a view.
Its three-page letter to the board recognises the need to redevelop the site, but endorses the city council planners' decision to refuse permission for the proposed 37-storey tower and "other tall elements" of the scheme.
Referring to their approval for blocks of up to 18 storeys, it says these would be "excessive in terms of height, scale and bulk, and would have an adverse effect on the character and setting of a large number of protected structures in the immediate vicinity".
The letter says the excessive scale of the development would "seriously unbalance" the established architectural character of the area and have a "highly negative visual impact" along Lansdowne, Pembroke, Northumberland and Shelbourne Roads.
"The new buildings would introduce incongruous elements into the streetscape and dominate views down each of these roads . . . towering over, by very many storeys. . . predominantly one to four-storey protected structures in the area."
The department also says it has "serious concerns" about the proposal to develop such high-rise buildings a relatively short distance from the "internationally significant Georgian quarter of the south city", around Merrion and Fitzwilliam squares.
It wants the board to "consider whether sufficient consideration has been given to the visual impact of the proposed developments on the surrounding area, an established 19th century suburb containing so many protected structures".
While accepting the need for higher density housing, it says the location of tall buildings in or near historic areas "cannot be considered on an ad hoc basis". Suitable locations must be selected "in the interest of the common good".
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
Dublin planners prepared to allow high-rise building in Ballsbridge
DUBLIN CITY Council's planners have made it clear to developer Sean Dunne that they are prepared to grant permission for a high-rise "landmark building" on the Jurys site in Ballsbridge in place of the 37-storey tower omitted from the current scheme.
"It is the strong view of the planning authority that a landmark building of architectural excellence is required at this location, and equally that the building be of sufficient scale to act as a landmark," according to a report by senior planner Kieran Rose.
Referring to the junction of Pembroke Road and Lansdowne Road, where the 37-storey tower had been proposed, he says the planners "would consider by way of a new planning application a building that meets these criteria on this part of the site".
However, Mr Rose's report makes it clear that it was not open to the planners to permit the proposed tower "despite the many positive aspects of the taller building, and having regard to the lack of sufficient policy support for a building of 37 storeys".
In its decision to grant planning permission for the proposed development, the council also omitted a 10-storey office block on the basis that it was "neither permissible nor open for consideration" under the existing Z1 residential zoning.
However, it approved six other buildings in the scheme by Danish architects Henning Larsen, including four blocks containing a total of 294 apartments, a 232-bedroom hotel, an embassy building, cultural centre, crèche and district shopping centre.
The proposed cultural centre, on which Gate Theatre director Michael Colgan is the adviser, would include an art gallery, an "eclectic" cinema, a photographic gallery, a performance space, rehearsal and artists studios and a "centre for European culture".
The embassy block would provide 13,250 sq m of office space for embassies.
Billionaire financier Dermot Desmond - who was one of some 150 objectors - has warned that such a building would be "a sitting duck for a potential terrorist attack".
The tallest building approved for the Jurys-Berkeley Court hotel sites, which Mr Dunne agreed to purchase in 2005 for €379 million, would rise to 18 storeys on the Shelbourne Road frontage, while the lowest would be nine storeys.
The decision, which was subject to 27 conditions, specified that the three apartment blocks on the Lansdowne Road frontage be reduced in height from 11 to nine storeys to provide "a more harmonious relationship" with Victorian houses opposite.
Omitting the proposed 37-storey tower, which would have contained 182 apartments, and lowering the height of the Lansdowne Road blocks have resulted in cutting the number of apartments in the scheme from 536 to 294, a reduction of over 45 per cent.
Given that Mr Dunne has said his company, Mountbrook, intended to submit a revised application for the landmark tower - unless it gets approval for it from Bord Pleanála on appeal - it would be possible to recoup a large proportion of the omitted apartments.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
"It is the strong view of the planning authority that a landmark building of architectural excellence is required at this location, and equally that the building be of sufficient scale to act as a landmark," according to a report by senior planner Kieran Rose.
Referring to the junction of Pembroke Road and Lansdowne Road, where the 37-storey tower had been proposed, he says the planners "would consider by way of a new planning application a building that meets these criteria on this part of the site".
However, Mr Rose's report makes it clear that it was not open to the planners to permit the proposed tower "despite the many positive aspects of the taller building, and having regard to the lack of sufficient policy support for a building of 37 storeys".
In its decision to grant planning permission for the proposed development, the council also omitted a 10-storey office block on the basis that it was "neither permissible nor open for consideration" under the existing Z1 residential zoning.
However, it approved six other buildings in the scheme by Danish architects Henning Larsen, including four blocks containing a total of 294 apartments, a 232-bedroom hotel, an embassy building, cultural centre, crèche and district shopping centre.
The proposed cultural centre, on which Gate Theatre director Michael Colgan is the adviser, would include an art gallery, an "eclectic" cinema, a photographic gallery, a performance space, rehearsal and artists studios and a "centre for European culture".
The embassy block would provide 13,250 sq m of office space for embassies.
Billionaire financier Dermot Desmond - who was one of some 150 objectors - has warned that such a building would be "a sitting duck for a potential terrorist attack".
The tallest building approved for the Jurys-Berkeley Court hotel sites, which Mr Dunne agreed to purchase in 2005 for €379 million, would rise to 18 storeys on the Shelbourne Road frontage, while the lowest would be nine storeys.
The decision, which was subject to 27 conditions, specified that the three apartment blocks on the Lansdowne Road frontage be reduced in height from 11 to nine storeys to provide "a more harmonious relationship" with Victorian houses opposite.
Omitting the proposed 37-storey tower, which would have contained 182 apartments, and lowering the height of the Lansdowne Road blocks have resulted in cutting the number of apartments in the scheme from 536 to 294, a reduction of over 45 per cent.
Given that Mr Dunne has said his company, Mountbrook, intended to submit a revised application for the landmark tower - unless it gets approval for it from Bord Pleanála on appeal - it would be possible to recoup a large proportion of the omitted apartments.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 25 February 2008
Dunne warns of economic crisis without Jurys' site
PROPERTY developer Sean Dunne has warned that foreign investment into Ireland will dry up if he does not receive planning permission for his proposed 1.5bn 37-storey tower at the Jurys hotels site in Ballsbridge, Dublin.
Dunne, who has taken a huge financial gamble by buying the site and desperately needs planning permission, said the city was facing an office accommodation crisis and if "firms cannot find space in the city centre, competing cities in Europe and the rest of the world will be looked to".
The justification for the site is in a document commissioned by Dunne and seen by the Sunday Tribune. The document says the decision on planning permission "has implications for the national economy as a whole". It forms part of Dunne's final bid to persuade planners to back the scheme.
The assessment claims Dunne's project will generate over 4,000 jobs and contribute 313m annually to the local economy. Dunne also claims his project would help recover some of the estimated 6.5bn a year lost from the economy by Irish people sending their money abroad. He said the retail element of his scheme would "enhance the city's attraction and competitiveness as an international shopping destination".
The strident tone of the document underlines how vital it is for Dunne to secure planning permission as quickly as possible. The developer has already borrowed over 750m from the banks for the project, with the Ballsbridge site itself acting as security for several loans from Ulster Bank.
A spokesman for Dunne also confirmed he had yet to arrange financing for construction of the project. However, fellow developer Ray Grehan, who secured permission for a 15-storey tower on a neighbouring site, said this was usual and that he hadn't secured funding for his site either. He said, however, that he was confident of securing the 500m to complete his scheme.
Although publicly Dunne's firm, Mountbrook Homes, remains bullish, some in the property business privately express reservations about whether his plans are achievable. The doubts centre on the fact that it involves the construction of almost 28,000 square metres of office space at a time when supply is outstripping demand.
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Dunne, who has taken a huge financial gamble by buying the site and desperately needs planning permission, said the city was facing an office accommodation crisis and if "firms cannot find space in the city centre, competing cities in Europe and the rest of the world will be looked to".
The justification for the site is in a document commissioned by Dunne and seen by the Sunday Tribune. The document says the decision on planning permission "has implications for the national economy as a whole". It forms part of Dunne's final bid to persuade planners to back the scheme.
The assessment claims Dunne's project will generate over 4,000 jobs and contribute 313m annually to the local economy. Dunne also claims his project would help recover some of the estimated 6.5bn a year lost from the economy by Irish people sending their money abroad. He said the retail element of his scheme would "enhance the city's attraction and competitiveness as an international shopping destination".
The strident tone of the document underlines how vital it is for Dunne to secure planning permission as quickly as possible. The developer has already borrowed over 750m from the banks for the project, with the Ballsbridge site itself acting as security for several loans from Ulster Bank.
A spokesman for Dunne also confirmed he had yet to arrange financing for construction of the project. However, fellow developer Ray Grehan, who secured permission for a 15-storey tower on a neighbouring site, said this was usual and that he hadn't secured funding for his site either. He said, however, that he was confident of securing the 500m to complete his scheme.
Although publicly Dunne's firm, Mountbrook Homes, remains bullish, some in the property business privately express reservations about whether his plans are achievable. The doubts centre on the fact that it involves the construction of almost 28,000 square metres of office space at a time when supply is outstripping demand.
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Thursday, 17 January 2008
Extension for AIB's Bankcentre appealed
A couple living on Serpentine Avenue in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 has appealed a planned extension of AIB's Bankcentre to An Bord Pleanála saying it represents "poor planning".
Dr Noel O'Connor and Mrs Elaine O'Connor, who live across the road from the Bankcentre, say the proposed extension of the centre to 88,000sq m (947,223sq ft) from its current size of 69,900sq m (752,400sq ft) would constitute overdevelopment of the site.
They say that the first extension of the Bankcentre - from 33,000sq m (355,210sq ft) to 69,900sq m (752,400sq ft) which was granted planning permission in 2004 - saw "virtually all green areas" built upon and they had to endure "three years of site clearance, excavation and construction.
"In some instances neighbours have sold and moved on."
They claim that "at no point since 2003 has the AIB management team responsible for this development crossed the road to respond to the daily impacts" of the development.
AIB sold most of the Bankcentre site for €378 million in 2004 to a consortium including Mountbrook Homes, Hibernian, AIB and the Serpentine Consortium.
The O'Connors are also concerned about the additional traffic that would be generated as a result of the proposed development which it is estimated would employ an extra 1,500 staff. The bank already has around 6,000 staff many of whom use the access point on Serpentine Avenue. They say the main entrance of the proposed extension is on the "narrowest part of Serpentine Avenue" and is less than 30 metres from the rail crossing,
Another issue is the scale of the development which they say is at variance with the tree-lined Victorian and Edwardian residential avenue.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Dr Noel O'Connor and Mrs Elaine O'Connor, who live across the road from the Bankcentre, say the proposed extension of the centre to 88,000sq m (947,223sq ft) from its current size of 69,900sq m (752,400sq ft) would constitute overdevelopment of the site.
They say that the first extension of the Bankcentre - from 33,000sq m (355,210sq ft) to 69,900sq m (752,400sq ft) which was granted planning permission in 2004 - saw "virtually all green areas" built upon and they had to endure "three years of site clearance, excavation and construction.
"In some instances neighbours have sold and moved on."
They claim that "at no point since 2003 has the AIB management team responsible for this development crossed the road to respond to the daily impacts" of the development.
AIB sold most of the Bankcentre site for €378 million in 2004 to a consortium including Mountbrook Homes, Hibernian, AIB and the Serpentine Consortium.
The O'Connors are also concerned about the additional traffic that would be generated as a result of the proposed development which it is estimated would employ an extra 1,500 staff. The bank already has around 6,000 staff many of whom use the access point on Serpentine Avenue. They say the main entrance of the proposed extension is on the "narrowest part of Serpentine Avenue" and is less than 30 metres from the rail crossing,
Another issue is the scale of the development which they say is at variance with the tree-lined Victorian and Edwardian residential avenue.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 17 June 2007
Property tycoons 'not losing sleep' over 80m interest bill for failed D4 plan
Councillors' rejection of Ballsbridge scheme will cost SeanDunne and his like an enormous amount of money writes Justine McCarthy.But the Dublin 4 developers are in this for the long haul SOME of Ireland's wealthiest property developers could be shelling out 80m-a-year in loan interest payments for landmark sites in Dublin 4 which failed to get the development green light from Dublin City Council last week.
But, according to sources close to a number of the developers, they are not perturbed about the escalating costs, which are running into figures that most mortals could not comprehend.
"I doubt if any of those boys are losing too much sleep over it, " opined another heavyweight developer.
An estimated 1.8bn has been splurged by Sean Dunne, Bernard McNamara and Ray Grehan, among others, on strategic properties in the capital's most desirable postal district. But councillors' rejection of a plan to raise the permissible height of buildings means that the developers' grandiose schemes to reconstruct Ballsbridge must remain on ice indefinitely. The council has said it will not revisit the issue for at least a year.
Dunne, who has plans for a 32-storey tower on the existing Jurys/Berkeley Court/Towers hotel lands, spent 370m acquiring the site as part of his dream to turn the area into Dublin's Knightsbridge. The hotels are due to close for business at the end of the summer.
His interest payments to Ulster Bank, based on a 4.5% fixed lending rate, are reckoned to be between 15m and 18m a year if he borrowed the entire amount. He also paid 130m for the Hume House office block near Jurys, plus 200m for his share of AIB's headquarters opposite the RDS.
While the colourful Tullow native has attracted most attention for his Dublin 4 acquisitions, he is pipped by former Fianna Fail county councillor Bernard McNamara in terms of spending. The latter has gone on a retail therapy spree worth nearly 900m, pushing the going rate for land in the area up to 60m per acre. His purchases include the Burlington Hotel ( 288m), the Allianz building ( 100m) and the Irish Glass Bottle site ( 412m).
Another developer, Ray Grehan, bought the former UCD Veterinary College for 171m and David Daly of Albany Homes spent 25m on Franklin House, an office block. Between them, the developers have spent more on buying up Ballsbridge than the total value realised from SSIA accounts in credit unions throughout the country.
Some of the borrowings are likely to have a no-payment period built into the agreement, on the basis that construction cannot begin until the planners amend the height restrictions; something generally regarded as inevitable.
Though the bill for their shopping spree equals 7% of the national debt, they are prepared to engage in a who-blinks-first contest with the planners, not sending in the wrecker's ball until their demands for taller buildings in Ballsbridge are conceded. A minimum of 20 storeys is considered the bare essential if the developers are to mine a profit from their investments.
Any fears that the growing financial pressure of having to sit out the stalemate might damage the national economy are dismissed by economists and other developers. One pointed out that Dunne's 370m price tag for the hotels represents only 1.5% of Irish banks' total lending for real estate.
"I think this will be an annoyance to them but nothing that wasn't expected, " said Paul Murgatroyd, economist with Douglas Newman Good estate agents. "I don't think any of them realistically expected to be on site within three years. They didn't buy the sites with their eyes shut. They knew the existing 12-storey ceiling was there and that they were going to have to win over the residents and the council."
A property developer, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "I wouldn't see any of them going bust. You're talking about five or six acres.
So what, in the overall context of the market?
Down along the docklands in Dublin, there are hundreds of acres being developed with land fetching 25m-an-acre. Development is a long-term game.
When you look at a scheme like Dunne's in Ballsbridge, you're talking about a five or 10-year job.
They're pretty solid people. They all have plenty of money and plenty of assets."
Sunday Tribune
But, according to sources close to a number of the developers, they are not perturbed about the escalating costs, which are running into figures that most mortals could not comprehend.
"I doubt if any of those boys are losing too much sleep over it, " opined another heavyweight developer.
An estimated 1.8bn has been splurged by Sean Dunne, Bernard McNamara and Ray Grehan, among others, on strategic properties in the capital's most desirable postal district. But councillors' rejection of a plan to raise the permissible height of buildings means that the developers' grandiose schemes to reconstruct Ballsbridge must remain on ice indefinitely. The council has said it will not revisit the issue for at least a year.
Dunne, who has plans for a 32-storey tower on the existing Jurys/Berkeley Court/Towers hotel lands, spent 370m acquiring the site as part of his dream to turn the area into Dublin's Knightsbridge. The hotels are due to close for business at the end of the summer.
His interest payments to Ulster Bank, based on a 4.5% fixed lending rate, are reckoned to be between 15m and 18m a year if he borrowed the entire amount. He also paid 130m for the Hume House office block near Jurys, plus 200m for his share of AIB's headquarters opposite the RDS.
While the colourful Tullow native has attracted most attention for his Dublin 4 acquisitions, he is pipped by former Fianna Fail county councillor Bernard McNamara in terms of spending. The latter has gone on a retail therapy spree worth nearly 900m, pushing the going rate for land in the area up to 60m per acre. His purchases include the Burlington Hotel ( 288m), the Allianz building ( 100m) and the Irish Glass Bottle site ( 412m).
Another developer, Ray Grehan, bought the former UCD Veterinary College for 171m and David Daly of Albany Homes spent 25m on Franklin House, an office block. Between them, the developers have spent more on buying up Ballsbridge than the total value realised from SSIA accounts in credit unions throughout the country.
Some of the borrowings are likely to have a no-payment period built into the agreement, on the basis that construction cannot begin until the planners amend the height restrictions; something generally regarded as inevitable.
Though the bill for their shopping spree equals 7% of the national debt, they are prepared to engage in a who-blinks-first contest with the planners, not sending in the wrecker's ball until their demands for taller buildings in Ballsbridge are conceded. A minimum of 20 storeys is considered the bare essential if the developers are to mine a profit from their investments.
Any fears that the growing financial pressure of having to sit out the stalemate might damage the national economy are dismissed by economists and other developers. One pointed out that Dunne's 370m price tag for the hotels represents only 1.5% of Irish banks' total lending for real estate.
"I think this will be an annoyance to them but nothing that wasn't expected, " said Paul Murgatroyd, economist with Douglas Newman Good estate agents. "I don't think any of them realistically expected to be on site within three years. They didn't buy the sites with their eyes shut. They knew the existing 12-storey ceiling was there and that they were going to have to win over the residents and the council."
A property developer, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "I wouldn't see any of them going bust. You're talking about five or six acres.
So what, in the overall context of the market?
Down along the docklands in Dublin, there are hundreds of acres being developed with land fetching 25m-an-acre. Development is a long-term game.
When you look at a scheme like Dunne's in Ballsbridge, you're talking about a five or 10-year job.
They're pretty solid people. They all have plenty of money and plenty of assets."
Sunday Tribune
Squire Dunne's precarious €510m
SQUIRE, Baron, Lord - three titles unofficially bestowed on Sean Dunne by the media two years ago when he annexed eight precious acres of Ballsbridge, at the heart of Dublin's embassy belt. That it cost the Carlow-born developer €380m to secure the sites of the Jury's and Berkeley Court hotels, and a further €130m to clinch nearby Hume House, only added to the shock and awe with which his gambit was greeted at the peak of the property boom.
Two years later, those who paid tribute to the 'Dunner' in the media and beyond are still watching, and waiting to see what he will do to realise his stated ambition of bringing Knightsbridge to Dublin 4. A 32-storey Trump Tower-style building with its own penthouse and 24-7 concierge service was to have been the centrepiece amidst a ribbon of luxurious 20-storey apartment blocks housing the newly-moneyed classes.
But Dunne's dream of reproducing London's Sloane Square or New York's Central Park West in Dublin was knocked back last week by the harsh realities of local government and local opposition.
With Dublin City councillors roundly rejecting high-rise development for Ballsbridge, Dunne has been forced back to the proverbial drawing board in an effort to appease officialdom, while still trying to turn a profit.
It will be a masterful feat if he can manage it. Simple arithmetic appears to be against him. Lower building heights will mean fewer apartment units. With fewer apartments to put on the market, Dunne will be forced to set the prices higher to maximise his return, and offset the cost of buying the site in the first place.
The law of supply and demand would suggest that with fewer apartments on offer, affluent buyers would be willing to pay more for a slice of a more exclusive pie. But this premise cannot be applied - for now at least - given the current jitters in the residential property market.
With prospective buyers looking for, and increasingly achieving, better value, it doesn't take a high-flying economist, or even a developer flying by the seat of his pants to suggest that the 'For Sale' signs could become more than a temporary fixture on Dunne's dream homes.
Compounding his difficulties in Dublin 4 is the restrictive covenant he entered into with the Doyle family when he bought out the two jewels in the hotel empire built by their late father, PV Doyle. As part of the deal to secure the Jury's and Berkeley Court sites, Dunne agreed that he would not develop another hotel there at any time in the future.
While the covenant might have made sense in 2005, it no longer does. Had Dunne the option of hotel development, he could have looked to replicate the model of the nearby Four Seasons Hotel, which has its own permanent penthouse residences.
While such a model might sound unusual, it has already proved attractive to at least one well-known Ballsbridge resident. Former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds is in the process of selling his palatial house on Ailesbury Road, worth €15m, with a view to taking up residence in one of the Four Seasons penthouse apartments, which cost €5m. From his new vantage point in his five-star eyrie, Mr Reynolds will soon have a bird's-eye view of another millstone around Sean Dunne's neck.
In another bold move, last July, Dunne entered into a €378m deal with Hibernian Life & Pensions to buy four blocks of AIB headquarters in Ballsbridge, as well as an adjoining four acres.
Dunne's contribution to the sale and leaseback transaction, which came to an incredible €200m, was not without difficulties, coming as it did six weeks after the initial deadline for payment.
Having first paid a deposit of €20m in April for the land, Dunne was served with a completion notice by AIB when the deal was not concluded by the end of May. A further deadline passed at the end of June with no sign of the remaining €180m being paid.
Dunne held his nerve, delivering the cash a week after he closed another deal, to sell his 50 per cent stake in the Whitewater Shopping Centre in Newbridge to Warren Private Clients for just under €200m.
The deal with Warren came with its own problems, and only proceeded after an eight-day battle in the High Court. Dunne had wanted to back out of the transaction, and took Warren to court claiming that an earlier agreement to sell the Whitewater site for €37.5m had been conditional on another development agreement that had never been signed.
Ultimately, the court case was settled, with Warren agreeing to pay €197m for the Newbridge site and development works, with a further €20m in 18 months depending on rental increases.
Dunne might be keen to extract that €20m now, given the estimated annual interest bill of €11m being speculated upon by financial analysts in relation to his estimated €170m borrowings on the Jury's and Berkeley Court sites.
At the very least, he must be wondering if it was wise to set his bid for the Jury's site tender at €275m, based solely on the whimsy of his glamorous socialite wife, former journalist Gayle Killilea.
The story of how Dunne asked his wife - a one-time Sunday Independent columnist - to pick a number between €253m and €275m when deciding on his finaloffer for the Dublin 4 land could well go down in history as the defining image of a Celtic Tiger oblivious to its own mortality.
To be fair to Gayle, she was said to be unaware that her choice of '75 (the year of her birth) related in any way to the Jury's deal, and opted for the higher number, believing it to be lucky.
When her husband secured the glittering prize, he must have believed his luck was in too. Among the bidders he beat were Joe O'Reilly's Castlethorn Construction; Galway-based Frank O'Malley of O'Malley Construction; Glencairn Development Company; Neville Brothers; Treasury Holdings; McNamara Development Company and Park Developments. Dunne's neighbour on Shrewsbury Road, millionaire hotel operator Paddy Kelly also submitted an unsuccessful bid of €273m - just €2m shy of the winning figure.
But Dunne's prize wasn't achieved through good fortune alone. To have his bid accepted by the Jury's Doyle Group, Dunne was forced to engage in an aggressive purchase of their shares.
When the Precinct Consortium, comprising businessman Bryan Cullen, David Coleman and JJ Murphy, entered the fray with the backing of the billionaire Reuben brothers, Dunne immediately sensed the danger of a potential takeover of the Jury's Doyle Group, which could have scuppered his purchase of the Jury's site altogether.
The Precinct Consortium put together a due diligence report on the company and looked set to offer €1.1bn for it, or €17.50 per share.
To counter this, Dunne was forced to buy up a substantial 29 per cent of the Jury's Doyle shares in four separate tranches to block any takeover of the company in advance of an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) called to approve the land sale.
However, with the deal approved, Dunne's appetite for the company's shares didn't recede. Within weeks, speculation was rife that he would seek to take over the Jury's Doyle group himself, with a view to freeing up its wider hotel property portfolio for residential development.
But the Carlow developer's heart was always set on transforming the select Ballsbridge land belt centred on Jury's. Confirmation of this came when it emerged that he had paid €130m for the nine-storey office block Hume House, beside Jury's Hotel and opposite the US embassy. His unshakeable belief in Dublin 4 was confirmed in no small measure by the prices achieved on lands adjoining the Jury's and Hume House sites shortly afterwards.
Just three weeks after Dunne had paid a whopping €52m per acre for the 4.8-acre Jury's site, Ray Grehan of Glenkerrin Homes splashed out an unprecedented €171m on the former UCD Veterinary College building on nearby Shelbourne Road. The price paid by Grehan equated to an eye-watering €84m an acre.
The two-acre site was expected to sell for just over €120m, but this was easily outstripped by all five of the tenders ultimately submitted. Two offers of just over €170m were received, with the remaining three bids coming in between €155m and €160m. Commenting at the time on his securing of the Veterinary College site, a jubilant Ray Grehan described it as an opportunity that came around "only once a century".
While Dunne might have been disappointed not to get his own hands on the building, he must have taken some comfort from the knowledge that he had secured the Jury's land for a knockdown price - relatively speaking.
The arrival of yet another revered property mogul on the scene buoyed up Dunne's convictions on Dublin 4.
Bernard McNamara turned up the heat considerably when he bought the Burlington Hotel from the Jury's Doyle Group for €288m. McNamara followed up the hotel purchase shortly after when he acquired the Allianz building next door, paying €100m for the 1.5-acre plot.
Adding to all three men's confidence in the value of their embassy belt investments was the data from respected professional bodies. As late as April of last year, the UK-based Investment Property Databank and the Society of Chartered Surveyors produced a report which showed Irish commercial property returns outperforming those of the UK in 2005.
The IPD's monthly index showed Ireland giving total returns of 24.3 per cent compared to the UK's still-strong 18.8 per cent. The Irish performance in 2005 was its strongest since 2000, and more than double what had been achieved in 2004. An 18.1 per cent increase in Irish property values between 2004 and 2005 was the main contributing factor to this. The UK experienced a 12.2 per cent increase in capital values.
Those statistics mean little now, however. In the intervening period, the Irish property market has suffered a series of significant body blows. Eight interest rate increases by the European Central Bank (ECB) have added to the costs of developers' financing, while making it more expensive for prospective property buyers seeking mortgages.
More significant, though, is the bigger economic picture, where the fundamental threats to the health of the property market - particularly at its upper reaches - cannot be ignored. Escalating labour costs here and the threat posed by the emerging economies of the EU accession states have combined to undermine seriously Ireland's competitiveness.
And for men like Sean Dunne, concerns for the country's continuing competitiveness are far more than bootless cries from economists and other prophets of doom on drivetime radio shows.
Sean Dunne understands consequences, and knows full well that if foreign direct investment - first lured here by low corporation tax rates - takes flight for the fledgeling EU states now mimicking our Celtic Tiger economic model, there will be little enough demand for his luxurious 4,000 sq ft apartments in Dublin 4. Nor will there be any demand for apartment living on the grounds of the AIB bank campus, which Dunne bought in conjunction with Hibernian Life & Pensions.
And there will be little need for the Carlow developer to proceed with any further development at Charlesland in Greystones, Co Wicklow, either, where he has already constructed some 1,800 apartments and houses in partnership with Sean Mulryan of Ballymore Homes. Which could explain why the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, chose to invite Dunne and his wife to attend his historic address to the Houses of Parliament at Westminster during the recent general election campaign.
The Taoiseach understands better than anybody just how crucial men like Sean Dunne are to the country's economic - and his political - fortunes. Writing in this newspaper only two weeks ago on the issue of stamp duty reform, Mr Ahern was clear on just how critical the construction industry is to the country's economic well-being.
"A strong construction sector is vital to a strong economy," said Mr Ahern. "It directly employs 282,000 people across the country and many tens of thousands more in related industries. It is a major contributor to the health of our public finances. It is in everyone's best interest that it be allowed to thrive and continue generating good job opportunities and good earnings for thousands of families throughout Ireland."
Whatever about the Taoiseach's aspirations for the future of the construction industry, his sentiments will do little to help the plans of Sean Dunne to bring Knightsbridge to Dublin 4. As he examines the latest obstacle to his vision thrown up by Dublin City councillors and the concerned members of 14 local residents' associations, Dunne may well be thinking of the warnings from his developer rivals in 2005.
Back then, their suggestions that Dunne was paying over the odds for the Jury's site could have been dismissed as covetous. Now, however, those words appear prescient. Asked by the Sunday Independent then what they thought of Dunne's €260m offer for the Jury's site (reduced from €275m, due to extra tax liabilities), both Joe Moran of Manor Park Homes and Cork businessman Owen O'Callaghan described it as "madness".
It later transpired that Mr O'Callaghan had bid on the site himself, offering €160m for it, or €100m less than Sean Dunne. Commenting in 2005 on Sean Dunne's offer for the site, Mr O'Callaghan said: "I firmly believe that the proposed Jury's deal is madness. In most people's opinion the site is worth €160m to €180m. That's where the bulk of the bids were. I bid €160m. I do not think he [Sean Dunne] can make money on it."
Jim Mansfield, multimillionaire property developer and owner of Citywest leisure and golf complex, also had a clear view that Sean Dunne was making a costly mistake in paying €260m for the Jury's site. Mr Mansfield identified rising oil prices and the prospect of interest rate rises as potentially "very serious" for Mr Dunne.
He said: "The uncertainties caused by the latest oil price ripple could mean that anything could happen to interest rates at the moment. And the effect of higher interest rates on a deal like this one could be very serious."
Mr Mansfield also foresaw the planning problems now being faced by Sean Dunne, and their consequences. He said: "Remember the purchase can be subject to unexpected delays. If you were to get a project like that through the planning system and then through appeal, two years is not such a long time," he said. "And during that sort of period, the servicing of the €260m site costs alone could increase by upwards of 11 per cent. That's another €28m or so. Then there is the social and affordable housing costs that have to be added in.
"Of course it's also possible that the developer could make money out of it, especially if he were to persuade the planners to allow high-rise on the site. But without that certainty . . . all I can say is he is a brave man," Mr Mansfield added.
Sean Dunne will certainly need to steel himself in the light of last Monday's decision by Dublin City Council to withdraw the Local Area Plan (LAP) for Ballsbridge, which would have allowed for high-rise development.
Opting for a previous plan limiting tall buildings to just eight storeys as opposed to the 32 storeys Dunne was seeking, the councillors bowed to pressure from a coalition of 14 local residents' associations. The eight-storey limit also put paid to Dunne's plans for four 11-storey buildings.
And it's unlikely that Sean Dunne will have an opportunity to advance whatever Plan B he has for Ballsbridge for at least another year. Dublin City Council now intends to focus its attentions on drawing up Local Area Plans for Rathmines and Phibsborough, before returning to deal with the future of the Jury's site, and its environs.
But only a fool would write Sean Dunne off just yet. His decision, as a 50 per cent stakeholder in Berland Homes nearly 20 years ago, to purchase 70 acres in Bray for residential development raised more than a few eyebrows at a time when the housing market was less than buoyant.
And in 1996, before the property boom had taken hold, he founded Mountbrook Homes to build the upmarket St Helen's Wood in Booterstown. This bold development provided Dunne with the funds to embark on a series of housing schemes including St Raphael's Manor in Celbridge and later the exclusive Hollybrook apartment scheme on Brighton Road in Foxrock.
As property prices were propelled from year to year, Sean Dunne rode the crest of the developers' wave, while it lasted. Acutely aware of the cyclical nature of the economy, and by extension the health of the property market, Dunne knows that his dream of bringing Knightsbridge to Ballsbridge might not come just yet.
So, few will be surprised if he follows the money and goes in search of development opportunities in the emerging economies, using the profits there to service the interest on his Dublin 4 portfolio.
Dunne is nothing if not confident in the abiding value of Dublin's embassy belt land, which according to the statistics has doubled in value every seven years for the last century without fail. If such a pattern is repeated in 2012, the €510m gamble Sean Dunne took in 2005 will have paid off handsomely.
He just has to bide his time, if he can afford to.
Sunday Independent
Two years later, those who paid tribute to the 'Dunner' in the media and beyond are still watching, and waiting to see what he will do to realise his stated ambition of bringing Knightsbridge to Dublin 4. A 32-storey Trump Tower-style building with its own penthouse and 24-7 concierge service was to have been the centrepiece amidst a ribbon of luxurious 20-storey apartment blocks housing the newly-moneyed classes.
But Dunne's dream of reproducing London's Sloane Square or New York's Central Park West in Dublin was knocked back last week by the harsh realities of local government and local opposition.
With Dublin City councillors roundly rejecting high-rise development for Ballsbridge, Dunne has been forced back to the proverbial drawing board in an effort to appease officialdom, while still trying to turn a profit.
It will be a masterful feat if he can manage it. Simple arithmetic appears to be against him. Lower building heights will mean fewer apartment units. With fewer apartments to put on the market, Dunne will be forced to set the prices higher to maximise his return, and offset the cost of buying the site in the first place.
The law of supply and demand would suggest that with fewer apartments on offer, affluent buyers would be willing to pay more for a slice of a more exclusive pie. But this premise cannot be applied - for now at least - given the current jitters in the residential property market.
With prospective buyers looking for, and increasingly achieving, better value, it doesn't take a high-flying economist, or even a developer flying by the seat of his pants to suggest that the 'For Sale' signs could become more than a temporary fixture on Dunne's dream homes.
Compounding his difficulties in Dublin 4 is the restrictive covenant he entered into with the Doyle family when he bought out the two jewels in the hotel empire built by their late father, PV Doyle. As part of the deal to secure the Jury's and Berkeley Court sites, Dunne agreed that he would not develop another hotel there at any time in the future.
While the covenant might have made sense in 2005, it no longer does. Had Dunne the option of hotel development, he could have looked to replicate the model of the nearby Four Seasons Hotel, which has its own permanent penthouse residences.
While such a model might sound unusual, it has already proved attractive to at least one well-known Ballsbridge resident. Former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds is in the process of selling his palatial house on Ailesbury Road, worth €15m, with a view to taking up residence in one of the Four Seasons penthouse apartments, which cost €5m. From his new vantage point in his five-star eyrie, Mr Reynolds will soon have a bird's-eye view of another millstone around Sean Dunne's neck.
In another bold move, last July, Dunne entered into a €378m deal with Hibernian Life & Pensions to buy four blocks of AIB headquarters in Ballsbridge, as well as an adjoining four acres.
Dunne's contribution to the sale and leaseback transaction, which came to an incredible €200m, was not without difficulties, coming as it did six weeks after the initial deadline for payment.
Having first paid a deposit of €20m in April for the land, Dunne was served with a completion notice by AIB when the deal was not concluded by the end of May. A further deadline passed at the end of June with no sign of the remaining €180m being paid.
Dunne held his nerve, delivering the cash a week after he closed another deal, to sell his 50 per cent stake in the Whitewater Shopping Centre in Newbridge to Warren Private Clients for just under €200m.
The deal with Warren came with its own problems, and only proceeded after an eight-day battle in the High Court. Dunne had wanted to back out of the transaction, and took Warren to court claiming that an earlier agreement to sell the Whitewater site for €37.5m had been conditional on another development agreement that had never been signed.
Ultimately, the court case was settled, with Warren agreeing to pay €197m for the Newbridge site and development works, with a further €20m in 18 months depending on rental increases.
Dunne might be keen to extract that €20m now, given the estimated annual interest bill of €11m being speculated upon by financial analysts in relation to his estimated €170m borrowings on the Jury's and Berkeley Court sites.
At the very least, he must be wondering if it was wise to set his bid for the Jury's site tender at €275m, based solely on the whimsy of his glamorous socialite wife, former journalist Gayle Killilea.
The story of how Dunne asked his wife - a one-time Sunday Independent columnist - to pick a number between €253m and €275m when deciding on his finaloffer for the Dublin 4 land could well go down in history as the defining image of a Celtic Tiger oblivious to its own mortality.
To be fair to Gayle, she was said to be unaware that her choice of '75 (the year of her birth) related in any way to the Jury's deal, and opted for the higher number, believing it to be lucky.
When her husband secured the glittering prize, he must have believed his luck was in too. Among the bidders he beat were Joe O'Reilly's Castlethorn Construction; Galway-based Frank O'Malley of O'Malley Construction; Glencairn Development Company; Neville Brothers; Treasury Holdings; McNamara Development Company and Park Developments. Dunne's neighbour on Shrewsbury Road, millionaire hotel operator Paddy Kelly also submitted an unsuccessful bid of €273m - just €2m shy of the winning figure.
But Dunne's prize wasn't achieved through good fortune alone. To have his bid accepted by the Jury's Doyle Group, Dunne was forced to engage in an aggressive purchase of their shares.
When the Precinct Consortium, comprising businessman Bryan Cullen, David Coleman and JJ Murphy, entered the fray with the backing of the billionaire Reuben brothers, Dunne immediately sensed the danger of a potential takeover of the Jury's Doyle Group, which could have scuppered his purchase of the Jury's site altogether.
The Precinct Consortium put together a due diligence report on the company and looked set to offer €1.1bn for it, or €17.50 per share.
To counter this, Dunne was forced to buy up a substantial 29 per cent of the Jury's Doyle shares in four separate tranches to block any takeover of the company in advance of an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) called to approve the land sale.
However, with the deal approved, Dunne's appetite for the company's shares didn't recede. Within weeks, speculation was rife that he would seek to take over the Jury's Doyle group himself, with a view to freeing up its wider hotel property portfolio for residential development.
But the Carlow developer's heart was always set on transforming the select Ballsbridge land belt centred on Jury's. Confirmation of this came when it emerged that he had paid €130m for the nine-storey office block Hume House, beside Jury's Hotel and opposite the US embassy. His unshakeable belief in Dublin 4 was confirmed in no small measure by the prices achieved on lands adjoining the Jury's and Hume House sites shortly afterwards.
Just three weeks after Dunne had paid a whopping €52m per acre for the 4.8-acre Jury's site, Ray Grehan of Glenkerrin Homes splashed out an unprecedented €171m on the former UCD Veterinary College building on nearby Shelbourne Road. The price paid by Grehan equated to an eye-watering €84m an acre.
The two-acre site was expected to sell for just over €120m, but this was easily outstripped by all five of the tenders ultimately submitted. Two offers of just over €170m were received, with the remaining three bids coming in between €155m and €160m. Commenting at the time on his securing of the Veterinary College site, a jubilant Ray Grehan described it as an opportunity that came around "only once a century".
While Dunne might have been disappointed not to get his own hands on the building, he must have taken some comfort from the knowledge that he had secured the Jury's land for a knockdown price - relatively speaking.
The arrival of yet another revered property mogul on the scene buoyed up Dunne's convictions on Dublin 4.
Bernard McNamara turned up the heat considerably when he bought the Burlington Hotel from the Jury's Doyle Group for €288m. McNamara followed up the hotel purchase shortly after when he acquired the Allianz building next door, paying €100m for the 1.5-acre plot.
Adding to all three men's confidence in the value of their embassy belt investments was the data from respected professional bodies. As late as April of last year, the UK-based Investment Property Databank and the Society of Chartered Surveyors produced a report which showed Irish commercial property returns outperforming those of the UK in 2005.
The IPD's monthly index showed Ireland giving total returns of 24.3 per cent compared to the UK's still-strong 18.8 per cent. The Irish performance in 2005 was its strongest since 2000, and more than double what had been achieved in 2004. An 18.1 per cent increase in Irish property values between 2004 and 2005 was the main contributing factor to this. The UK experienced a 12.2 per cent increase in capital values.
Those statistics mean little now, however. In the intervening period, the Irish property market has suffered a series of significant body blows. Eight interest rate increases by the European Central Bank (ECB) have added to the costs of developers' financing, while making it more expensive for prospective property buyers seeking mortgages.
More significant, though, is the bigger economic picture, where the fundamental threats to the health of the property market - particularly at its upper reaches - cannot be ignored. Escalating labour costs here and the threat posed by the emerging economies of the EU accession states have combined to undermine seriously Ireland's competitiveness.
And for men like Sean Dunne, concerns for the country's continuing competitiveness are far more than bootless cries from economists and other prophets of doom on drivetime radio shows.
Sean Dunne understands consequences, and knows full well that if foreign direct investment - first lured here by low corporation tax rates - takes flight for the fledgeling EU states now mimicking our Celtic Tiger economic model, there will be little enough demand for his luxurious 4,000 sq ft apartments in Dublin 4. Nor will there be any demand for apartment living on the grounds of the AIB bank campus, which Dunne bought in conjunction with Hibernian Life & Pensions.
And there will be little need for the Carlow developer to proceed with any further development at Charlesland in Greystones, Co Wicklow, either, where he has already constructed some 1,800 apartments and houses in partnership with Sean Mulryan of Ballymore Homes. Which could explain why the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, chose to invite Dunne and his wife to attend his historic address to the Houses of Parliament at Westminster during the recent general election campaign.
The Taoiseach understands better than anybody just how crucial men like Sean Dunne are to the country's economic - and his political - fortunes. Writing in this newspaper only two weeks ago on the issue of stamp duty reform, Mr Ahern was clear on just how critical the construction industry is to the country's economic well-being.
"A strong construction sector is vital to a strong economy," said Mr Ahern. "It directly employs 282,000 people across the country and many tens of thousands more in related industries. It is a major contributor to the health of our public finances. It is in everyone's best interest that it be allowed to thrive and continue generating good job opportunities and good earnings for thousands of families throughout Ireland."
Whatever about the Taoiseach's aspirations for the future of the construction industry, his sentiments will do little to help the plans of Sean Dunne to bring Knightsbridge to Dublin 4. As he examines the latest obstacle to his vision thrown up by Dublin City councillors and the concerned members of 14 local residents' associations, Dunne may well be thinking of the warnings from his developer rivals in 2005.
Back then, their suggestions that Dunne was paying over the odds for the Jury's site could have been dismissed as covetous. Now, however, those words appear prescient. Asked by the Sunday Independent then what they thought of Dunne's €260m offer for the Jury's site (reduced from €275m, due to extra tax liabilities), both Joe Moran of Manor Park Homes and Cork businessman Owen O'Callaghan described it as "madness".
It later transpired that Mr O'Callaghan had bid on the site himself, offering €160m for it, or €100m less than Sean Dunne. Commenting in 2005 on Sean Dunne's offer for the site, Mr O'Callaghan said: "I firmly believe that the proposed Jury's deal is madness. In most people's opinion the site is worth €160m to €180m. That's where the bulk of the bids were. I bid €160m. I do not think he [Sean Dunne] can make money on it."
Jim Mansfield, multimillionaire property developer and owner of Citywest leisure and golf complex, also had a clear view that Sean Dunne was making a costly mistake in paying €260m for the Jury's site. Mr Mansfield identified rising oil prices and the prospect of interest rate rises as potentially "very serious" for Mr Dunne.
He said: "The uncertainties caused by the latest oil price ripple could mean that anything could happen to interest rates at the moment. And the effect of higher interest rates on a deal like this one could be very serious."
Mr Mansfield also foresaw the planning problems now being faced by Sean Dunne, and their consequences. He said: "Remember the purchase can be subject to unexpected delays. If you were to get a project like that through the planning system and then through appeal, two years is not such a long time," he said. "And during that sort of period, the servicing of the €260m site costs alone could increase by upwards of 11 per cent. That's another €28m or so. Then there is the social and affordable housing costs that have to be added in.
"Of course it's also possible that the developer could make money out of it, especially if he were to persuade the planners to allow high-rise on the site. But without that certainty . . . all I can say is he is a brave man," Mr Mansfield added.
Sean Dunne will certainly need to steel himself in the light of last Monday's decision by Dublin City Council to withdraw the Local Area Plan (LAP) for Ballsbridge, which would have allowed for high-rise development.
Opting for a previous plan limiting tall buildings to just eight storeys as opposed to the 32 storeys Dunne was seeking, the councillors bowed to pressure from a coalition of 14 local residents' associations. The eight-storey limit also put paid to Dunne's plans for four 11-storey buildings.
And it's unlikely that Sean Dunne will have an opportunity to advance whatever Plan B he has for Ballsbridge for at least another year. Dublin City Council now intends to focus its attentions on drawing up Local Area Plans for Rathmines and Phibsborough, before returning to deal with the future of the Jury's site, and its environs.
But only a fool would write Sean Dunne off just yet. His decision, as a 50 per cent stakeholder in Berland Homes nearly 20 years ago, to purchase 70 acres in Bray for residential development raised more than a few eyebrows at a time when the housing market was less than buoyant.
And in 1996, before the property boom had taken hold, he founded Mountbrook Homes to build the upmarket St Helen's Wood in Booterstown. This bold development provided Dunne with the funds to embark on a series of housing schemes including St Raphael's Manor in Celbridge and later the exclusive Hollybrook apartment scheme on Brighton Road in Foxrock.
As property prices were propelled from year to year, Sean Dunne rode the crest of the developers' wave, while it lasted. Acutely aware of the cyclical nature of the economy, and by extension the health of the property market, Dunne knows that his dream of bringing Knightsbridge to Ballsbridge might not come just yet.
So, few will be surprised if he follows the money and goes in search of development opportunities in the emerging economies, using the profits there to service the interest on his Dublin 4 portfolio.
Dunne is nothing if not confident in the abiding value of Dublin's embassy belt land, which according to the statistics has doubled in value every seven years for the last century without fail. If such a pattern is repeated in 2012, the €510m gamble Sean Dunne took in 2005 will have paid off handsomely.
He just has to bide his time, if he can afford to.
Sunday Independent
Tuesday, 12 June 2007
Council blocks Dunne high-rise project
PLANS by developer Sean Dunne to build Ireland's first skyscraper in Dublin 4 have been dramatically shot down.
Dublin city councillors last night rejected outright a local area plan (LAP) for Ballsbridge that would have given the Carlow businessman the go-ahead to build a 20-storey apartment complex on the Jury's Hotel site.
Following a highly-charged debate where officials were accused of pandering to developers, all councillors bar one voted not to approve the plan, which called for 'landmark' buildings between 10 and 20 storeys to be allowed.
The decision will come as a bitter blow to developers, including Mr Dunne, Ray Grehan of Glenkerrin Homes and Bernard McNamara, who have spent millions acquiring land in the south Dublin suburb.
Upwards of €50m an acre have been spent acquiring some sites.
A spokesman for Mr Dunne's Mountbrook Homes said last night that the company would "consider its options".
"The site we have (Jury's / Berkerley Court) now reverts to the zoning it had when we bought it. In the light of the rejection of the proposed rezoning, we will consider that going forward," the spokesman said.
But planning sources said last night that the decision to reject the plan might not stop high-rise developments in the area.
A developer could still apply to build high-density tall buildings, and if a decision by the council to reject the application was appealed to An Bord Pleanala, the board might approve it given the area's close proximity to the city centre and good public transport links.
The draft local area plan voted down last night proposed increasing the zonings in the area to facilitate intensive development, and would allow 'district landmark' buildings of up to 20 storeys be constructed - two-and-a-half times the height of the tallest buildings already in the area.
The plan was put out on public display for three months and there were 266 submissions from the public.
However, councillors were very vocal in their opposition, with not one councillor expressing support for the plan.
The Labour group said it would apply the party whip compelling all its councillors to reject the plan, with claims made that the LAP was drawn up to facilitate developers.
"On behalf of the Fine Gael group we reject this in full," Cllr Gary Breen said.
"We're being asked to sign a blank cheque. This is the planning process in reverse, we're not responsible for the folly of a developer."
Fianna Fail's Michael Donnelly added there was 'no option' but to reject the plan given local opposition. His party colleague Deirdre Heney abstained from the vote.
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
Dublin city councillors last night rejected outright a local area plan (LAP) for Ballsbridge that would have given the Carlow businessman the go-ahead to build a 20-storey apartment complex on the Jury's Hotel site.
Following a highly-charged debate where officials were accused of pandering to developers, all councillors bar one voted not to approve the plan, which called for 'landmark' buildings between 10 and 20 storeys to be allowed.
The decision will come as a bitter blow to developers, including Mr Dunne, Ray Grehan of Glenkerrin Homes and Bernard McNamara, who have spent millions acquiring land in the south Dublin suburb.
Upwards of €50m an acre have been spent acquiring some sites.
A spokesman for Mr Dunne's Mountbrook Homes said last night that the company would "consider its options".
"The site we have (Jury's / Berkerley Court) now reverts to the zoning it had when we bought it. In the light of the rejection of the proposed rezoning, we will consider that going forward," the spokesman said.
But planning sources said last night that the decision to reject the plan might not stop high-rise developments in the area.
A developer could still apply to build high-density tall buildings, and if a decision by the council to reject the application was appealed to An Bord Pleanala, the board might approve it given the area's close proximity to the city centre and good public transport links.
The draft local area plan voted down last night proposed increasing the zonings in the area to facilitate intensive development, and would allow 'district landmark' buildings of up to 20 storeys be constructed - two-and-a-half times the height of the tallest buildings already in the area.
The plan was put out on public display for three months and there were 266 submissions from the public.
However, councillors were very vocal in their opposition, with not one councillor expressing support for the plan.
The Labour group said it would apply the party whip compelling all its councillors to reject the plan, with claims made that the LAP was drawn up to facilitate developers.
"On behalf of the Fine Gael group we reject this in full," Cllr Gary Breen said.
"We're being asked to sign a blank cheque. This is the planning process in reverse, we're not responsible for the folly of a developer."
Fianna Fail's Michael Donnelly added there was 'no option' but to reject the plan given local opposition. His party colleague Deirdre Heney abstained from the vote.
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
Thursday, 24 May 2007
Dunne hit with another blow to building plans
DEVELOPER Sean Dunne has been hit with another blow to his plans to build homes in leafy Dublin 4.
An Bord Pleanala yesterday refused permission to the Carlow businessman to build houses off Serpentine Avenue in Ballsbridge. It is the second time in recent weeks Mr Dunne has been set back in relation to a number of planned developments he has for the country's most expensive suburb.
Just last week, city councillors rejected a plan which would have allowed him build a 32-storey high-rise apartment and hotel complex on the Jury's Hotel/Berkeley Court site, which he bought for a reported €380m in 2005.
Interfere
Yesterday, An Bord Pleanala rejected an appeal from the 52-year-old businessman seeking permission to build four three-bedroom semi-detached houses on a site behind Serpentine Avenue.
The application, lodged in the name of Mr Dunne, his wife Gayle and children Steven, Elaine and John, was rejected by Dublin City Council last December as it would involve overdevelopment of the site.
The council also ruled that it would impact on neighbouring properties because of overshadowing, and there was not enough open space included.
The grounds for refusal in Mr Dunne's appeal were the same as those handed down by the council, but it also ruled that the proposal could interfere with the width of a laneway at the rear of the site.
"The proposed development would be contrary to the sustainable development of the area," its inspector noted.
Now Mr Dunne finds himself sitting on a large land bank in Dublin 4 with no guarantee he can make a return from it.
On May 15 last, city councillors rejected a draft area plan for Ballsbridge which would have allowed high-rise development in the area. But the decision might yet be overturned as the decision to accept or reject an area plan must be made by a full council meeting.
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
An Bord Pleanala yesterday refused permission to the Carlow businessman to build houses off Serpentine Avenue in Ballsbridge. It is the second time in recent weeks Mr Dunne has been set back in relation to a number of planned developments he has for the country's most expensive suburb.
Just last week, city councillors rejected a plan which would have allowed him build a 32-storey high-rise apartment and hotel complex on the Jury's Hotel/Berkeley Court site, which he bought for a reported €380m in 2005.
Interfere
Yesterday, An Bord Pleanala rejected an appeal from the 52-year-old businessman seeking permission to build four three-bedroom semi-detached houses on a site behind Serpentine Avenue.
The application, lodged in the name of Mr Dunne, his wife Gayle and children Steven, Elaine and John, was rejected by Dublin City Council last December as it would involve overdevelopment of the site.
The council also ruled that it would impact on neighbouring properties because of overshadowing, and there was not enough open space included.
The grounds for refusal in Mr Dunne's appeal were the same as those handed down by the council, but it also ruled that the proposal could interfere with the width of a laneway at the rear of the site.
"The proposed development would be contrary to the sustainable development of the area," its inspector noted.
Now Mr Dunne finds himself sitting on a large land bank in Dublin 4 with no guarantee he can make a return from it.
On May 15 last, city councillors rejected a draft area plan for Ballsbridge which would have allowed high-rise development in the area. But the decision might yet be overturned as the decision to accept or reject an area plan must be made by a full council meeting.
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
Tuesday, 15 May 2007
Dublin 4 but not 32 . . . in this location size matters
SIZE DOES matter in fashionable Ballsbridge, the exclusive heart of Dublin 4.
The area which includes the US embassy, the Lansdowne Road stadium and the RDS, not to mention countless houses worth €30m plus, is THE location in the country.
When property developer Sean Dunne bought both Jury's and the Berkeley Court hotels and outlined plans for a 32-storey skyscraper of apartments, no fewer than 14 residents associations went on the warpath.
It was the mother of all acquisitions in the heart of the gold-plated property belt, costing the developer €380m. But under the existing development plan the height will have to be restricted.
The residents said the proposed rezoning of substantial tracts of land - including the hotel sites between Pembroke Road and Shelbourne Road - was entirely unnecessary as Ballsbridge already had all the amenities appropriate to its character.
Yesterday, councillors agreed and adopted a motion which throws the Sean Dunne plan for an apartment skyscraper into serious doubt.
Legal challenges may ensure more council meetings - and more residents meetings. In the meantime, the plan for 632 apartments will be on hold.
TREACY HOGAN
Irish Independent
The area which includes the US embassy, the Lansdowne Road stadium and the RDS, not to mention countless houses worth €30m plus, is THE location in the country.
When property developer Sean Dunne bought both Jury's and the Berkeley Court hotels and outlined plans for a 32-storey skyscraper of apartments, no fewer than 14 residents associations went on the warpath.
It was the mother of all acquisitions in the heart of the gold-plated property belt, costing the developer €380m. But under the existing development plan the height will have to be restricted.
The residents said the proposed rezoning of substantial tracts of land - including the hotel sites between Pembroke Road and Shelbourne Road - was entirely unnecessary as Ballsbridge already had all the amenities appropriate to its character.
Yesterday, councillors agreed and adopted a motion which throws the Sean Dunne plan for an apartment skyscraper into serious doubt.
Legal challenges may ensure more council meetings - and more residents meetings. In the meantime, the plan for 632 apartments will be on hold.
TREACY HOGAN
Irish Independent
Dunne skyscraper dream is dashed
THE hopes of property tycoon Sean Dunne to build a 32-storey skyscraper with more than 600 exclusive apartments on the site of Jury's Hotel, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, were dashed last night.
Dublin city councillors voted to withdraw a plan for the area which could have accommodated the development.
Instead, they opted for a previous plan limiting tall buildings in the area to eight storeys.
The decision is a major setback to the ambitious proposal by Mr Dunne to erect the skyscraper with 632 apartments.
He spent €380m buying the Jury's and Berkeley Court hotels for the residential development.
A plan for high-rise development had been opposed by a group of 14 residents' associations.
Councillors in the south-east area adopted a motion recommending rejection of a local plan that would have effectively cleared the way for the 32-storey development. They reverted to a previous plan limiting developments to eight storeys.
Treacy Hogan
Irish Independent
Dublin city councillors voted to withdraw a plan for the area which could have accommodated the development.
Instead, they opted for a previous plan limiting tall buildings in the area to eight storeys.
The decision is a major setback to the ambitious proposal by Mr Dunne to erect the skyscraper with 632 apartments.
He spent €380m buying the Jury's and Berkeley Court hotels for the residential development.
A plan for high-rise development had been opposed by a group of 14 residents' associations.
Councillors in the south-east area adopted a motion recommending rejection of a local plan that would have effectively cleared the way for the 32-storey development. They reverted to a previous plan limiting developments to eight storeys.
Treacy Hogan
Irish Independent
Sunday, 18 February 2007
Local Area Plan for Ballsbridge
This is old news now, but as I was on holiday during the week, some may have missed it:
Planning and Development Acts 2000-2006 (Section 20)
Notice is hereby given pursuant to Section 20 (3) of the Planning and Development Acts 2000-2006 that Dublin City Council, being the Planning Authority for Dublin City, proposes to make a Local Area Plan for Ballsbridge:
A copy of the proposed Draft Local Area Plan will be available for inspection at the Civic Offices, Wood Quay, Dublin 8 from Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays) between the hours of 9.00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. from Tuesday 30th January 2007 to Tuesday 13th March 2007 (both dates inclusive). A public display, during the same period, will also be held in the Pembroke Library, Anglesea Road, Ballsbridge during the Library’s normal opening hours which are as follows:
Monday and Tuesday - 1.00pm – 8.00pm
Wednesday and Thursday - 10.00am – 5.00pm
Friday and Saturday - 10.00am - 1.00pm, 1.45pm – 5.00pm
Written submissions or observations in relation to the proposed draft local area plan made to the Planning Authority within the above said period will be taken into consideration before the making of a decision on the Draft Plan. Such submissions or observations should be addressed to:
Tom Vaughan, Planning Department, Civic Offices, Wood Quay, Dublin 8 or by email to planning@dublincity.ie before 4.30pm on Tuesday 13th March 2007
A public information meeting to present the Ballsbridge Proposed Draft Local Area Plan will be held at 7.30pm on Thursday 1st February 2007 in the Merrion Room, Royal Dublin Society, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
Planning and Development Acts 2000-2006 (Section 20)
Notice is hereby given pursuant to Section 20 (3) of the Planning and Development Acts 2000-2006 that Dublin City Council, being the Planning Authority for Dublin City, proposes to make a Local Area Plan for Ballsbridge:
A copy of the proposed Draft Local Area Plan will be available for inspection at the Civic Offices, Wood Quay, Dublin 8 from Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays) between the hours of 9.00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. from Tuesday 30th January 2007 to Tuesday 13th March 2007 (both dates inclusive). A public display, during the same period, will also be held in the Pembroke Library, Anglesea Road, Ballsbridge during the Library’s normal opening hours which are as follows:
Monday and Tuesday - 1.00pm – 8.00pm
Wednesday and Thursday - 10.00am – 5.00pm
Friday and Saturday - 10.00am - 1.00pm, 1.45pm – 5.00pm
Written submissions or observations in relation to the proposed draft local area plan made to the Planning Authority within the above said period will be taken into consideration before the making of a decision on the Draft Plan. Such submissions or observations should be addressed to:
Tom Vaughan, Planning Department, Civic Offices, Wood Quay, Dublin 8 or by email to planning@dublincity.ie before 4.30pm on Tuesday 13th March 2007
A public information meeting to present the Ballsbridge Proposed Draft Local Area Plan will be held at 7.30pm on Thursday 1st February 2007 in the Merrion Room, Royal Dublin Society, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
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