Former Gallaher’s site on market for €16.5m
THE former Gallaher cigarette factory site in Tallaght, has come to the market quoting €16.5 million.
Located at the junction of Greenhills and Airton Road, the 6.5 acre site has planning permission for 502 apartments.
Home builder Greenleaf Homes, who developed the Arena Centre in Tallaght in 2008, attained planning permission, following an application to An Bord Pleanála in February 2020 under the Strategic Housing Development system.
A full grant of planning permission was issued by ABP in June 2020 for a scheme consisting of 197 one-beds, 257 two-beds and 48 three-bed apartments, along with 811sq m of retail units, including a 329sq m creche and parking for 202 cars.
The scheme is arranged in six separate blocks and Greenleaf say it is capable of being phased into smaller developments.
Originally built in the 1950s, the Gallaher cigarette factory, maker of well-known brands including Benson & Hedges and Silk Cut, employed over 1,000 people.
It closed in 2003 following a corporate restructuring at European level.
The derelict Gallaher’s site
In recent years the derelict building has been damaged as a result of two fires on the premises.
The site was sold at the height of the boom to Bernard McNamara and Gerry O’Reilly and subsequently sold in 2012 by receivers to the present owners.
According to planning documents in 2020, Greenleaf estimate construction costs to be over €12m, and total estimated costs, including VAT, professional fees, at over €20m.
Michael Turley, of Turley Property Advisors, is handling the sale. It’s understood the owners have engaged in discussions with a local housing authority to sell almost 25 per cent of the units.
However, the owners have decided to market the entire site, in order for the next owners to decide if they want to keep the entire site or dispose of a portion.
A previous valuation of the 502 apartments in The Echo reported a €110m price for the overall development. In 2017, The Echo reported the Gallaher site was sold in 2015 as part of two lots in a “long-term government investment opportunity” for €11.5 million.
