A Dublin-based order of nuns, Religious of Jesus and Mary, is to sell a site with planning permission for 40 houses and apartments at Goatstown Road, Dublin 14, after a private syndicate ran into financial difficulties before it could develop the homes.

Estate agent David Gill Associates is seeking in excess of €3 million for the 2.5-acre site in the grounds of the Jesus and Mary College and the new Our Lady’s Grove Primary School.

The sale comes after the collapse of an agreement between a three-man consortium headed by developer David Arnold and the religious order under which the consortium had the freedom to build and sell over 100 apartments on the site.

Before embarking on the development the consortium had to provide a new residence for the 16 sisters in the order.

Property collapse
This was done at a cost of several million euro but with the property market collapsing the syndicate "failed to pay the order a significant amount of money", according to property adviser Bill Nowlan of WK Nowlan & Associates who advised the order.

Before vacating the site, the consortium built a new access road as well as getting planning permission for a smaller development which runs until 2017.

The religious order is not expected to have any difficulty in offloading the site because of the recent shortage of family homes in south Dublin and a significant increase in values over the past year.