Life, Work and Chocolate
Irish Independent, Friday 11th March 2005.

The 'Live/Work' concept, epitomised by the loft apartments in New York, has been a while getting to this country.

Last year some of the new Dockland developments incorporated a handful of such spaces, but on the whole the idea was not developed fully.

Now, in an exciting new €100 million project for The Old Chocolate Factory at Kilmainham Square in Dublin 8, 36 of the proposed 210 apartments will be live/work units.

Prices for the 1-bed apartments are from €255,000 (44-54m²); the 2-bed apartments are from €330,000 (62-77m²) and 3-bed apartments are from €390,000 (81-104m²). Building work has just commenced on site and completion is from Autumn 2006.

Kilmainham Square will comprise of a new 4-star hotel with private leisure facilities which can be used by the residents of The Old Chocolate Factory. In addition there will be 7,360m² of office space and 368m² of convenience/retail space.

This site had been the old Nestle Chocolate factory, located on the South Circular Road opposite Kilmainham Gaol and the Royal Hospital (now the Museum of Modern Art).

It is within easy reach of all the amenities of the city centre. Public transport links are excellent, with Heuston Station nearby from which mainline services link to Limerick, Galway, Tralee and Cork. The red LUAS line runs nearby with the station adjacent.

The new development will be four to nine storeys in height, laid out around well landscaped courtyards. Developers are Lalco who recently redeveloped the former First Active Headquarters in Booterstown in association with Irish Life. They are currently involved in a major apartment and marina development at Johnny Mariner, Athlone and the planned redevelopment of the former Jury's Hotel in Limerick.

There is a good range of large 1-, 2-, and 3-bed apartments which have been innovatively designed by Anthony Reddy & Associates. Many take advantage of either a sunny southerly orientation or fine views over the War Memorial Gardens and the Phoenix Park.

There will be Italian style bathrooms complete with power shower and integrated vanity mirror, full tiling and underfloor heating. Kitchens will be contemporary in style with granite worktops and high quality floor tiling. Many of the 2- and 3-bed apartments will have an en suite and balconies and all 2- and 3-bed apartments have a separate utility room. The whole development is to be monitored by CCTV cameras.