A newly rebuilt house in the centre of Ongar village, west of Clonsilla, Co Dublin, is to be offered for sale at a fraction of its original cost.
Jeremy Kelly of selling agent Kelly Walsh is quoting a mere €350,000 for Ongar House, which was valued at €2 million during the boom. It has planning permission for a bar and restaurant and stands on a site of 0.73 of a hectare (1.8 acres).
The original Ongar House was the centrepiece of a former stud farm owned by Prince Aly Khan, which was rezoned to allow for the development of a new village. Manor Park Homebuilders built and sold several hundred apartments and houses as well as retail and commercial buildings before going into receivership.
During the construction stage, the original Ongar House was damaged by fire. In 2003, Fingal County Council granted permission for the remains of the house to be demolished and replaced by a two-storey, over-basement house in the same style on the original footprint. The council also approved a plan to extend the house to bring it up to 1,172sq m (12,621sq ft). Part of the extensive grounds have been set aside as a 44-space car park.
Pyrite discovery
Though the house has the appearance of a well-finished project externally, it remains in a shell condition internally and is ready to be fitted out. "A number of structural issues have been identified that will need to be rectified," said Mr Kelly.
Pyrite has been discovered on the ground floor, which would cost about €200,000 to rectify. Mr Kelly said the quoting price had been adjusted to reflect the cost of rectifying the issue.
The house is zoned with the objective to “protect, provide for and/or improve local centre facilities” under the Fingal development plan. Kelly Walsh says a wide variety of commercial uses are permitted, including retail, community facility, education, place of worship, health centre, offices and public house.
It is estimated that there are about 33,000 people residing within one square kilometre of Ongar village centre. The village is 3km from Blanchardstown shopping centre.
