Former Montrose Hotel in Dublin Becomes Student Accommodation

Construction work has commenced this week to convert the former Montrose Hotel on Dublin’s Stillorgan Road into high spec student accommodation for 192 residents from September 2014.

Montrose Student Residence, on the doorstep of UCD, will target third-level and graduate students Dublin-wide through the academic year and international language students during summer months.

It will offer a total of 192 en-suite bedroom units, arranged in a choice of five to eight bedroom ‘cluster flats’ each with communal living, kitchen and dining areas.

It will also offer 24/7 security and a call out service, on-site laundry and car and bicycle parking spaces. Utilities, broadband internet, and contents insurance are all included in the room rental, which is projected currently to start from €175 per week, based on a 42-week term.

The €22.5m project is the first Irish development by Ziggurat Student Living, which plans to create over 1,000 student bed spaces in Dublin City over the next five years.

Ziggurat was founded in 2009 by Jim Pike and Matthew McAdden to bring together their development expertise and operational skills in the student accommodation sector and create quality investment opportunities for a range of investors.

They were advised on the Montrose transaction by Stephen Cassidy of Cassidy Property Consultants. 

“Our intention is to rapidly expand the availability of safe, secure, quality residences for students in both the UK and Ireland,” said McAdden.

“We’re now firmly focused on the Irish market, and our plan is to create over 1,000 new bed spaces over the next five years.”

Ziggurat and sister company Fawleybridge are managed by Atelier Property Asset Management Ltd. Ziggurat is currently progressing further projects in Edinburgh and Newcastle with an end value of some £65m and is working on securing a second scheme in Dublin.

This includes billionaire John Malone’s (owner of Liberty Global) $88 million offer to buy the Dublin Hotel. Malone was crowned “the cable king” in the United States after a 24-year time with TCI.