Dublin 2: The consortium developing a high quality waterfront apartment scheme at Grand Canal Dock, Dublin 2 plans to wrap up sales over the next few days when it expects to take bookings for the last 30 homes.
The balance of the 268 apartments in the Gallery Quay scheme were booked within hours of being launched for sale through The Irish Times property supplement earlier this year.
Joint agents Sherry FitzGerald New Homes and Hooke & MacDonald will be taking bookings today from noon at a marketing suite on the site. The first batch of new homes is likely to be ready to move into towards the end of 2004 or early in 2005.
Gallery Quay appears to have all the ingredients to become a successful new quarter on the former gas company site. The overall plan for the 25-hectare Grand Canal Harbour envisages a lively neighbourhood with 3,000 residents and a good mixture of leisure and shopping facilities.
The development will also include around 100,000 sq m (1,076,390 sq ft) of offices, a landmark cultural building and a five-star hotel. The centrepiece of the development will be a public piazza, Grand Canal Square, which will be surrounded by a range of restaurants, bars and shops. Gallery Quay alone will have 980 sq m (10,549 sq ft) of ground floor retail and restaurant facilities.
The €120 million Gallery Quay project is being developed by a strong joint venture consortium made up of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority and private firms, Alanis Ltd, Redquartz Development and Pierse Contracting.
Apartment sizes are somewhat larger than usual with one-bedroom units having a floor area of 46.4 to 53.8 sq m (500-580 sq ft), two-bedrooms having 64.1/83.6 sq m (690-900 sq ft) and three-bedroom apartments having 80.8 to 120.7 sq m (1,080-1,300 sq ft). Most of the two and three-bedroom apartments will have en suite bathrooms off the master bedroom.
Prices start at €290,000 for the one-bedroom apartments, €420,000 for two-bedroom homes, €450,000 for a three-bedroom apartment and €460,000 for a three-bedroom own-door duplex unit. Extra costs include car-parking spaces at €30,000 and storage at €3,000.
The developers have not skimped on the fit out. Neinmann German kitchens come with polish granite worktops, dimpled glass cupboards and a full range of integrated electrical appliances. Bathrooms will also be stunning with under floor heating, thermostatically controlled showers, glass shower screens, ceramic floor and wall tiling and recessed down lighting.
