Launching on May 6th, Kilcarbery Grange, is a new-homes scheme that is a partnership between South Dublin County Council and Adwood Ltd, a consortium of established second-generation Dublin building firms, Maplewood Residential and The Adroit Company.
Situated just west of the well-established suburb of Clondalkin, less than 1km from the M7, it offers easy access to the city’s arterial roads.
This is a site with a lot of green space. The main entrance to the 70-acre development is via the outer ring road, the R136, with Grange Castle Golf Club across its four lanes of dual carriageway. To the south is Corkagh Park, a vast green amenity of 290 acres.
When completed, a process the builders expect to take about four years, it will comprise 1,034 new homes in a mix of apartments, duplexes and three- and four-bedroom houses. Its five-storey blocks of apartments and duplexes will form the boundary of the new estate. Thirty per cent of these will be social housing, with another 5 per cent affordable.
In this first launch, agent DNG is bringing a total of 35 three- and four-bedroom houses to the market. It sold 44 off the plans last September and the first of the residents are due to move in in late summer or early autumn.
The smart design by BKD includes a terraced, semi-detached and detached style, all with big windows flooding the rooms with light. “It’s not something as a builder you want, as it is more expensive, but it brings a lot to the home,” says Michael Whelan jnr, a director of Maplewood Residential. Whelan has joined forces with Anthony Lydon of The Adroit Company to partner with South Dublin County Council as Adwood Ltd to build the homes.
The men know each other well. Both come from construction families and are second generation builders. Their fathers, Michael Whelan snr and Martin Lydon, built several schemes together including Liffey Valley Park in Lucan. “There’s a level of trust built over the years,” says Lydon.
A condition of planning was that the developers maintain the site’s mature trees and hedgerows, the latter now forming ecological corridors for wildlife and spines of green through the scheme. Sixteen per cent of its 70 acres will remain green spaces.
This is a key selling point for this low-density scheme. Many of the houses in this first launch have gardens that are bigger than average in new homes.
The well-designed A2- and A3-rated properties are roomy and include ceiling heights of 2.7m at ground level, dropping to standard 2.4m on the first and second floors.
They are also competitively priced. The three-beds range in size from 108- 122sq m (1,163-1,313sq ft) and priced from €370,000-€405,000. The most notable is the smallest in this phase, the Honeysuckle, which extends to 108 sq m (1,163sq ft). With a separate kitchen and living room, both of which are dual aspect, plus a utility room, it offers a lot of space. Prices for the mid-terrace units start at €370,000.
The four-beds range from 134-156sq m (1,442-1,679sq ft) and in price from €420,000-€445,000, with a mix of two-storey and three-storey options. The three-storey units are especially impressive, with two large bedrooms, both with en suites that have natural light, spanning the width of the first and second floors.
The kitchens have laminate countertops and are by either QK Kitchens or Keane. They don’t include the appliances seen in the show units, but buyers who complete within 21 days will get a voucher for €2,000 towards their own choice of brands. The interiors of the show homes were designed by House and Garden Furnishings.
Kilcarbery Grange will include a supermarket, an 8,000sq ft creche and a community centre building, as well as small retail units such as a coffee shop.
The site has a selection of covered bin stores throughout. Discreet-looking and accessed only by residents with a code to the door, they get rid of bin clutter from the streetscape and are included in the €400 annual management fee.
The nearest train station is Clondalkin/Fonthill on the Kildare commuter line, about a 20-minute cycle, which takes you into Heuston. It’s an 18-minute journey by bike to the red Luas line stop at the Red Cow. The area is served by various bus routes with the number 151, which goes from Balgaddy Road in Neilstown to East Wall in Dublin 3, scheduled to run through the estate – but that’s still a while off.
