Berth of a dream

THE presence of a €400,000 motor boat to perform the ribbon cutting at the €30 million Tarmon Harbour scheme qualifies as “a launch within a launch”.

The Longford/Roscommon development of 90 waterside homes makes a feature of its Shannonside setting - and it has splashed out more than €3m on a 90-berth marina.

“It will help this area along the upper Shannon to become a tourist capital of the region,” said its developer, Tom Crosby, who is also a local councillor and a politician who called in the early 1990s for tax reliefs to apply to rural developments.

That call was subsequently answered in the Rural Renewal Tax Incentive scheme, which applies to Tarmon Harbour, suiting owner-occupants, while for investors the development also has Section 23 reliefs.

The development has sold out its first phase of 50 homes, and site clearance has started on phase two, says estate agent Fintan McGill of Sherry FitzGerald McGill.

The location is on the edge of pretty Termonbarry in Roscommon, about a five or 10-minute drive from Longford town and two hours from Dublin; Galway is a 90-minute drive.

However, some of the arrivals here will be by helicopter and a helipad is being provided, while many more will make use of boats to come and go. Athlone is 30 miles away at the southern, far end of Lough Ree.

Already built to a very high standard with a marine feel are apartments, a handful of detached houses and 26 three-storey townhouses, the latter with a fourth internal split level.

This architectural innovation suits the contours of the 20-acre site (with two acres of clay excavated and shored up for the boat jetties) and its marina.

Prices started at €285,000 for these 1,570 sq ft homes, and now the last few are fetching up to €350,000 - strong prices for the locality, as new starter homes sell in the area for just €170,000, according to Mr McGill. Other prices include apartments from €159,00 to €205,000, and five-bed detached villas at up to €500,000.

Design is by Dublin-based MMA/Michael McCormack Architectural Partnership.

Each berth is priced at €30,000, and Section 3 reliefs apply here too.