Househunters’ delight as Adamstown dream begins
The country’s newest town went on sale yesterday and househunters who went along clutching deposit cheques and high hopes found themselves checking out not so much a new home as a whole new neighbourhood.
Adamstown in west Dublin is a creation of public planners and private developers, who have 10 years to turn 548 acres of countryside into an entirely new suburb complete with homes, schools, shops, amenity areas and transport facilities.
The first 330 of the planned 10,000 homes went on sale at noon yesterday from Castlethorn Construction and business was practically wrapped up before lunch, with buyers far outnumbering the houses and apartments on offer.
Some arrived a full day earlier, planning to queue for the sale, and their eagerness was rewarded when they were allocated numbers that allowed them to spend the night in their own beds and still take their place in the line the next morning.
The most sought-after home on offer was the three-bed duplex, starting at €335,000 and going up to about €370,000, but those on more modest budgets were eyeing the one and two-bedroom apartments, starting from €280,000.
For the biggest homes available, the four-beds with garage, buyers were having to fork out a minimum of €520,000. Nine different home styles were on show, along with some of the landscaping and layout of the adjoining developments.
But most of the tour required imagination as the would-be buyers were shown paper plans of where their community would be and how it will look.
Converting paper into property may be a complex business but those chomping at the bit to hand over their cheques yesterday were happy to take the chance on everything going to plan.
One excited first-time buyer who took the day off work to queue was dreaming of a duplex, expecting a two-bed apartment but willing to sign up for whatever was left.
“I’ll take anything really. I just want to get a place,” she said.
Shane Daly, director of new homes with sales agent, Gunne Auctioneers, was run off his feet with the endless stream of viewers.
“It’s fantastic. We have hundreds of people here and everyone’s impressed.”
The first of yesterday’s buyers will be moving in by late summer, while others will have a year’s wait for building to finish. Those who didn’t find the home of their dreams can join a waiting list for the next phase, currently under construction by Maplewood Homes on another part of the site, and there will be still be more than 9,000 homes to go after that.
Adamstown has caused controversy with campaigners in the traffic nightmare of neighbouring Lucan doubting the planners’ promise to have the roads, railway, schools and other services completed in time for the influx of families.
As it stands, the estimated completion time for the railway is early next year and the first of the three primary schools is intended to be open by September next year although the application has not yet been lodged. An application for the secondary school has not been lodged either.
