Receiver named for Elm Park by NAMA - Emmet Oliver → independent.ie/business/iris … 36719.html
Anyone familiar with the location and scale of this development knows that this is a serious biggie.
Will be very interesting to see the price at which they are pitched at.
The article says it’s only a “prime office development” - aren’t there also apartments in the Elm Park development?
Indeed.
Looked a bit odd to me when I read it too.
It’s a mixed development, but (AFAIK) mostly residential.
I pass it many times a day but it is only on the rare occasion you see signs of life.
For the record :
On a purely aesthetic level, am I the only one to think it looks horrendous ?
No.
The helipad is one of those little nuggets that reminds you of our towering hubris in those days. My good God almighty where the fuck did these people think all this money was going to come from??? I’ve been asking myself that question since 2004 but it is no less baffling now. Half a million bucks for a one bed apartment and allowance made for access to a helicopter? That people thought this was tenable is mind-bending.
On whether the residential units are part of this NAMA move, I guess we’ll have to see or wait for a clearer article on it.
A helipad is no big deal a bit of reinforced concrete on the roof. Sure the point depot had one of those form the beginning.
Its the mind warping comparison to Ballymun when I look at that photos which scares me the and this will cost the country a lot more socially! 
That wasn’t all, you didnt get to own one unless you agreed to share your profit upon sale with Mr Mac
I worked on that development in 2006. He could have sold the lot back then, but the greedy bastard wasnt happy without juicing the fuck out of them, as well as his suppliers who rarely got paid in full even in the best of days, the fucking sockcooker
and yes they are damn ugly
And for some crazy reason this monstrosity of a development won development of the year… 
And what really annoys me about this development is the fact they had to create a dangerous curve in what was formerly, a straight road!
A dangerous curve? Maybe if you were doing 120kph, maybe. Its almost straight?
the offices are a bit odd; sort of on stilts;
the apts themselves were a sight cut above the norm; enclosed (“Winter garden”?) type balconies, - i.e. interior and exterior windows on the balcony/patio type area; energy efficient and looked better than I’ve managed to describe (I saw the show gaffs).
Location is good but not great; just that little bit too far from town and Blackrock but could be worse I suppose
Fair enough, each to his own. From the road, I thought the whole development reminded me of that gruesome wall-shaped estate on the hills outside Sheffield (can’t remember its name). The whole thing just looked too Soviet for my taste.
Yes, the scale was just too big. Dwarfs a mere human being. Something kind of brutalist about it I think.
Also, there are these weird holiday camp-like chalet-style dwellings near the back - a couple of years ago we took a spin around the development for nosiness’ sake. Strange-looking places to live in I thought.
I wouldn’t disagree; when I went to view I (along with everyone else) parked in the basement and went straight up and just looked at the apt interior - which was decent; I don’t recall much in the way of gardens/lawns - even if it overlooked a golf course (?)
wandering around the estate wasn’t encouraged - possibly it was verboten as it was still sort of a site. Or maybe it was cold, or I couldn’t be arsed
bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=swk044 … top=0~0~0~
check it out on Bing bird’s eye
- yeah, nowhere to chill out on a summer’s day
Does it not have the obligatory ‘roof-garden’ ?
Particular fun, no doubt, when the helicopter decides to land 
The most egregious thing about this place is the name. The aesthetics may settle with time.
McNamara’s development site was the location of Merrion Castle, the seat of the Fitzwilliams, which dated to the 14th century. It and Baggotrath castle (where the Baggot Street hospital is now) castle were the two most important medieval castles in south county dublin.
The castle itself was demolished in the late 1700’s… but now the ancient Merrion name has been obliterated and replaced with the placeless, de-racinated and parvenu “Elmpark” (note the oneword only spelling). Would it have been too much to have some recognition of this in the naming of the place?
The Elm Park name of course has a tiny parochial snob factor being the name of a local golf club which the development overlooks. That name is in itself is inaccurate as the golf club clubhouse is actually in Nutley House; the original Elm Park House, mid Victorian and unimportant having been demolished earlier in the 20th century. Although part of the golf club grounds comprise the old Elm Park house grounds.
I could go on