Developers involved in the delivery of housing in Dublin’s commuter-belt counties will be interested in the opportunity presented by the sale of 5.77-acre (2.34-hectare) land holding on the outskirts of Castlebellingham, Co Louth. The subject property, which comes with two separate planning permissions in place for the delivery of 50 or 72 residential units, respectively, is being offered to the market by agent CBRE at a guide price of €2.25 million. The figure being sought equates to an average site cost of €31,250-€45,000 per unit.
The original grant of planning comprises 50 residential units, encompassing a mix of terraced, semidetached, and detached two-, three- and four-bedroom houses ranging in size from 86.5sq m (931sq ft) to 137.5sq m (1,480sq ft). Subsequently, a further grant of planning was permitted on the lands that allows for the replacement of 18 two-storey semidetached and terraced houses with 40 two- and three-bedroom duplexes ranging in size from 73.7sq m (793sq ft) to 137.5sq m (1,480sq ft).
The site is just north of Castlebellingham village, with frontage on to Dundalk Road. The lands are greenfield in nature, have a uniform rectangular shape and generally flat topography. The property is north of Drogheda and Dunleer, east of Ardee and Tallanstown and south of Dundalk.
Castlebellingham is 75km from St Stephen’s Green in Dublin city centre, 72km from Dublin Port, 62km from Dublin Airport and 98km from Belfast city centre. Dublin and Belfast are easily accessible via car and bus using the M1 and N1 motorways.
There are a number of big employers in the wider Co Louth area, primarily consisting of enterprises in Dundalk and Drogheda. These include National Pen, Multihog, Boylesports, Xerox Europe, Wasdell Europe, Premier Periclase, Gas Networks Ireland and WuXi Biologics, which announced in 2018 they would create 400 new jobs over a five-year period at their bio-pharma manufacturing facility in Mullagharlin. Dundalk and Drogheda also offer a wide selection of amenities including cafes, bars, restaurants and retail schemes such as Scotch Hall and The Marshes shopping centres.
Kevin Watson of CBRE’s development land and consultancy division says: “The is an excellent opportunity to acquire a residential development site with the benefit of two planning permissions in place, comprising a housing-focused lower-density scheme or a higher-density option comprising both houses and duplexes.”
