Kinsale development site with planning for 18 luxury homes hits market for €1.75m

Town-centre site with planning permission for 18 homes attracts strong interest amid continued demand in Kinsale’s premium property market

The 1.3a site at Rampart Lane, five minutes from Kinsale town centre, adjoins the exclusive Convent Garden development

A PRIME development site in Kinsale - a coastal enclave where house prices rank among the highest in the country - has come to market with a €1.75m guide price and planning permission for 18 luxury homes.

The 1.3 acre (0.53ha) land parcel, at Rampart Lane and Blind Gate Street, in the Townplots area of Kinsale, adjoins Cumnor Construction’s exclusive Convent Garden development, an 85-unit residential scheme where seven under-construction deluxe villas are due to make their market debut later this year, at a rumoured €4m-€5m a pop.

Part of the Convent Garden scheme, with harbour views

Vendors of the town centre €1.75m brownfield site — which equates to €97,200 per stand — are Dublin-based Park Developments, who purchased the land at the end of 2019 from the Sisters of Mercy, former residents of the convent since redeveloped as Convent Garden.

Having acquired the site for an undisclosed sum, Park Developments, via linked company Rafden, subsequently sought planning permission for 18 homes, including two semi-detached five-beds; four end-of-terrace four-beds; six mid-terrace four-beds; three two-bed ground floor apartments (simplex units) with three three-bed duplexes overhead. Permission was granted, under appeal, by An Coimisiún Pleanála, in November 2024, and the site is now being sold with the benefit of a full planning grant.

Patricia O’Regan of Sheehy Bros Auctioneers, who is handling the sale, said Park Developments have decided to sell the site to focus on two other projects in the coastal town, including their first housing scheme in Co Cork, called Estuary Ridge, a boutique scheme of nine detached houses in Cappagh, launched two weeks ago via joint agents Sheehy Bros and Savills, and targeting the upper end of the market. Ms O’Regan said prices for Estuary Ridge will be set “closer to summer” but that so far, interest has been “absolutely huge”. Park Developments also has permission to build approximately 70 homes on Kinsale GAA grounds on Bandon Road, with the club due to relocate.

In relation to the Rampart Lane site, Ms O’Regan said there’s “strong interest, a mix of local and national”.

“It will be a developer, either someone already in Kinsale or someone who wants to break into the market. There’s a good few developers on the ground in Kinsale but there’s always someone new coming into the field.

“We’re finding that property in the town is doing very well and that anything within walking distance of the town centre is really, really popular.”

One of Kinsale's marinas

The Rampart Lane site — for which an offer has already been made, but rejected on the grounds that it didn’t reach the required level — is within a five minute walk of the town centre and Kinsale’s stunning waterfront, where there are two marinas.

Historically, it was home to the Sisters of Mercy-run St Joseph’s Girls National School, which relocated to Scoil Naomh Eltin in 2013, a purpose-build co-ed on the edge of Kinsale town. The planning grant for the site allows for the demolition of the old school building.

Ms O’Regan said the timing of the site sale was good, as Convent Garden is now on the home stretch, more than 20 years after Cumnor Construction first started work there, with the scheme put on hold following the economic collapse.

“The fact that Convent Garden is so well established now and nearing completion, it’s lovely to have another site come up for development that it won’t be in competition with,” the agent said.

The views from the Rampart Lane site won’t be as good, as Convent Garden comes between it and the water. The town’s roofscape is more likely to fill the view.

“But the key thing is that it’s in the centre of town, where property has been so hot over the last few years. There’s almost a niche market out there of buyers who want to walk from home into town and leave their cars at home,” Ms O’Regan said.

Kinsale, with its sublime coastline, yachting background, world class golfing facilities and famed hospitality, has traditionally attracted high end buyers, including overseas billionaires, prepared to fork out top dollar for property. Property prices are consistently higher than anywhere else in Munster. The Central Statistics Office residential property price index consistently ranks Kinsale as having the highest house prices outside of Dublin, with the exception of Bray and Greystones in Co Wicklow.

Kinsale development land — especially with full planning permission — has been commanding high prices due to limited supply and very high house-end values. The Rampart Lane site has clearance for 18 homes, a density of about 34 units per ha.

Over the wall, in Convent Garden, luxury duplex units with harbour views have been selling for in excess of €1m, with one, No 6, Beacon Wharf, selling for €1.37m.

DETAILS: Patricia O’Regan, Sheehy Bros Auctioneers T: 021 4772338 Email: [e-mail]