Project Trinity earmarked at €120m

Sean Dunne’s one-time dream D4 development will today hit the market minus the much-maligned 37-storey tower originally earmarked to adorn the site.

Billed as ‘Project Trinity’ given its location on what was once home to Trinity College’s Botanic Gardens, the 6.8 acres of development land is expected to attract considerable attention from both home and abroad, given its location and development potential.

The 400-room Ballsbridge Hotel — formerly Jurys — and 185-room Clyde Court hotel currently trade on the site and will continue to do so unaffected during development.

The development is being brought to the market by Savills and Eastdil Secured.

“No other opportunity of this scale is likely to be presented again in Dublin,” said Savills Tom Barrett. “Project Trinity combines remarkable location with exceptional potential. In the right hands, this site will become a showcase of high-end luxury residential living not seen before in Dublin along with the potential to deliver a new four- to five-star hotel for the Dublin City Centre market.”

The planning permission, valid until December 2021, is for a 1.5m sq ft new urban quarter comprising 490 apartments, a 152-room standalone hotel and 77,000 sq ft of retail and associated commercial and leisure space.

The development provides for predominantly high-end residential apartments within a new urban landscape of pedestrian streets and a public plaza.

It is laid out in 12 distinct blocks, some of which are standalone pavilion-style residential buildings with gardens fronting Lansdowne and Pembroke Rds. In addition, new terraced apartment buildings will form around landscaped courtyards and gardens, with a large retail centre and a standalone 152-bed hotel fronting a new plaza onto Pembroke Rd.

It is expected that the units will prove popular as the Dublin housing market continues to strain under the dual effects of strong demand and a chronic lack of supply which, combined, have driven prices higher.

The site is expected to sell for between €120m and €150m — a significant discount on the €380m Mr Dunne paid for the two hotels in 2005.

Having been frustrated in his attempts to gain planning permission for his D4 project, the Carlow native dubbed the Baron of Ballsbridge was eventually forced to relinquish his dream development as the property crash hit.

A consortium of banks made up of Ulster Bank, Rabobank, and Icelandic lender Kaupthing took control of the hotels in 2009, with Dalata managing the businesses on their behalf.