MetroLink operator spends more than €2m per home buying Dartmouth Square houses

Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has spent more than €9 million to acquire four homes beside a contentious MetroLink station site in south Dublin.A number of homeowners on Dartmouth Square West near Ranelagh last year sought to bring a judicial review against the rail project, but dropped the challenge after TII agreed to buy the properties backing on to the Charlemont MetroLink station.MetroLink said the agreement involved a commitment to buy between 10 and 15 homes on the square, with TII chief executive Lorcan O’Connor saying details of the agreement with the residents were being kept confidential.New property filings show TII bought four properties on Dartmouth Square last month for a combined price of €9.1 million.READ MOREBased on the average cost of the four homes purchased to date, buying 15 Dartmouth Square West properties could cost TII up to €34 million.Three of the properties were acquired from homeowners who were part of the legal case related to MetroLink.The biggest fee was paid for number 10 Dartmouth Square, which cost €2.6 million to acquire, while €2.45 million was paid for number 8. Numbers 5 and 14 cost €2 million and €2.05 million respectively. The occupants of numbers 8, 10 and 14 Dartmouth Square were listed as plaintiffs in last November’s legal challenge to An Coimisiún Pleanála’s ruling that approved the MetroLink project last September.There is no requirement to demolish the Dartmouth Square West homes being acquired by TII. The State body is expected to sell them on once the Charlemont station is completed.The fees paid for the four homes in June are below the market prices paid for two properties on Dartmouth Square North late last year, which were bought for prices of between €2.7 million and €2.8 million by private individuals.A MetroLink spokesman said it has reached agreements in relation to a number of properties at Dartmouth Square and cannot comment on individual properties or agreements.Under the agreement between TII and Dartmouth Square West owners, the residents have been given a two-year window to sell their homes to the transport body.Last year, former MetroLink boss Seán Sweeney said the project would have faced a one- to two-year delay had the judicial review proceeded. “In terms of a business sense it’s a no-brainer,” he said.TII has powers to pursue compulsory purchase orders of property required for MetroLink, but it has so far focused on securing arrangements outside this process to buy property required. It has begun to close deals for vital lands and properties it requires to progress MetroLink to the construction stage.In recent weeks, the agency bought the O’Connell Street development site known as Dublin Central from UK property group Hammerson for €80 million.Part of the 5½ acre plot acquired, formerly known as the Carlton site, is required for the construction of an underground station on O’Connell Street.Earlier this month, The Irish Times also reported that owners of 40 homes in the College Gate apartment block on Townsend Street in Dublin 2 have agreed to sell their homes for €550,000.These homeowners were also provided a €40,000 fee for the inconvenience of being required to sell their homes in the residential block that will be demolished to facilitate a MetroLink station. It has been estimated by TII that close to €500 million will be spent buying property to accommodate the line linking Swords and Dublin Airport to the city centre, which is projected to cost up to €19 billion and forecast to begin construction next summer.