A record price of around £6 million for a one-acre residential site in Dublin 4 is likely to be set early in the new year when the Chester Beatty Library, on Shrewsbury Road, Ballsbridge, is offered for sale by the trustees.

Values on Shrewsbury Road took an unquantifiable leap forward last week when Dublin businessman Niall O'Farrell paid £3.6 million at a Gunne auction for less than half an acre in front of the library. Planning permission is to be sought for two large detached houses on the site, which has frontage of almost 130 ft on to Shrewsbury Road.

Ian Finnegan of agents Finnegan Menton, who purchased the 0.45 acre site in trust for Mr O'Farrell, said yesterday his agency already had several approaches from people wanting to buy one of the two houses. It is estimated Mr O'Farrell will have to spend around £600,000 building each of the two houses, which will be extremely large with around 4,000 sq ft. This will bring the overall cost of each of the houses to around £2.6 million, well below the value of most other houses on the road. Detached houses on Shrewsbury Road rarely come on the market and are valued between £3 million and £5 million. Mr O'Farrell, who founded the Blacktie dress hire company, holds a number of residential and commercial investments in a private capacity.

Most of Dublin's leading developers will be in contention for the Chester Beatty site, where the three existing buildings are likely to be demolished to make way for a luxury apartment scheme. The site could easily accommodate up to 40 two-bedroom apartments but most developers may opt for a smaller scheme of between 25 and 30 three-bedroom units with an average floor area of at least 1,200 sq ft. Sherry FitzGerald will be handling the sale of the Chester Beatty site, which could also be used for four or five large detached houses.