Potential for hundreds of new Portlaoise houses in huge Laois land sale

A huge block of land is on sale in Laois that could add hundreds more houses to Portlaoise's largest residential area.

What is described as "one of the last remaining sizeable land-banks" suited for development near Portlaoise town centre, has come on the open market.

A block of over 32 acres (13.1 hectares) of land stretching from the N80 Mountmellick road to the Ridge road, is up for sale at an undisclosed price.

It includes a mature bungalow on the Mountmellick road between the Liogard and Lake Glen housing estates.

It stretches back behind those estates through six fields, around the town's sewage treatment plant to road frontage on the Ridge Road.

Video of site below.

The auctioneer describes it as a "high profile development site, one of the last remaining sizeable land-banks that is suitable for development, in such close proximity to Portlaoise town centre.

"Such an opportunity to purchase a large and strategically located development site in Laois rarely comes to the market like this. The subject property offers developers, state agencies and investors alike, the potential to develop a key block of lands, which is primarily zoned for new residential and transport & utility uses".

Over half of the site - 16.6 acres -  is zoned Transport & Utilities, which makes it suited for car parks and commercial development related to public transport services. This zoning is also for services such as electricity, telecommunications, water and wastewater. 

Another 13.5 acres is zoned Residential 2 which allows mainly homes but also open space, schools, crèches, small shops, doctor's surgeries, playing fields.

The final 2.5 acres is un-zoned.

There is also an option to buy the lands in two blocks, one being the residential zone, the other the transport and unzoned lands.

Below: the zoning of the site.

"The majority of the site (except the dwelling house and it's curtilage) is currently in grass, being used for agricultural purposes and its topography is relatively flat throughout. The site is naturally divided into seven distinct fields by existing hedgerows and the river triogue traverses it. The site has the benefit of dual access from the N80 (well within the 50km/h speed limit zone) to the west and the Ridge Road to the east. No planning permission currently in place. Being sold with vacant possession."

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The auctioneer Gaynor Miller describes Portlaoise in glowing terms to potential buyers.

"Portlaoise is the largest town in County Laois with a population including environs in the region of 25,000 and increasing each year. It is one of the fastest growing towns in Ireland, with multiple state agency employers in situ, such as the Dept. of Agriculture, Portlaoise and Midlands Prisons, Portlaoise General Hospital, Laois County Council, Portlaoise Garda Station etc. The IDA Business Park, J17 National Enterprise Park and Clonminam Industrial Area in Togher also provide for additional employment."

Another 20 acres of development land has also gone up for sale in the town, on the Borris Road, as Portlaoise continues to mushroom in size and population.