Developer Richard Barrett’s Bartra property group has secured €4.15 million from the off-market disposal of a prime residential development site at Woodlands Park in the south Dublin suburb of Blackrock.
Located off Mount Merrion Avenue, the 0.283-hectare (0.72-acre) site, which has full planning permission for 26 apartments, has been acquired by Keith Craddock’s Red Rock Developments. The price paid represents an average of €159,600 per unit.
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Prior to its acquisition by Bartra in 2018, the Woodlands Park property known as Grove Lodge had served as the long-time home of Ray Stafford, the man behind Sudocrem. While the 1940s house was not publicly advertised for sale, an examination of the Property Price Register shows that Bartra paid €4 million for it.
The subject site at 45 Woodlands Park now has planning permission in place for a high-specification, five-storey building comprising 26 build-to-sell apartments with large balconies and floor-to-ceiling windows. The scheme also provides for 26 surface car-parking spaces with landscaped open space. Having secured approval for this development, Bartra subsequently sought permission for a revised scheme comprising 38 build-to-rent apartments aimed towards the “later living” or retirees’ market. While this proposal received the green light from Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council last October, it remains the subject of an appeal to An Bord Pleanála by local residents.
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Commenting on his company’s plans for the Blackrock site, Red Rock founder and chief executive Keith Craddock said: “We are delighted to have acquired this super-prime residential site and look forward to developing luxury apartments in this sought-after location.”
Richard Bielenberg, who handled the sale on behalf of Colliers, said: “Woodlands Park is such a great location for newly built apartments and we expect to see very solid demand for the completed development.”
