€350,000 sought for Mayo town centre site

COMMUNITY NOTES: BALLYHAUNIS - WESTERN PEOPLE (MAY 6 EDITION)

An 8.3-acre site adjacent to Aldi and St Patrick’s Church in Ballyhaunis is being offered for sale at €350,000, according to the estate agent Cushman Wakefield, which is handling the sale.

The price tag for the site appears modest given another site in a less central location was offered last year for €1 million.

Local auctioneer and estate agent Kevin Kirrane sees the 8.3-acre site, which was earmarked for a hotel development during the Celtic Tiger era, as ideal for housing but believes increased intervention by the state to get houses built at all costs is actually making the housing market less competitive for developers at a time of high building costs.

“It’s a great site but build cost is a big issue in Ballyhaunis and as you can see everything going on is through charities or housing associations with big government funding involved so it’s not a genuine market.”

Mr Kirrane sees an investor potentially buying the site and sitting on it.

“Buyers will buy it for development later I’m sure but I’m not sure when that might be.”