A joint venture has been formed between real estate firm Hines and Dutch pension investor APG Asset Management to develop a €450m build-to-rent scheme of over 1,221 apartments in Cherrywood in South Dublin.
Subject to planning permission, the first apartment blocks in the development are due to be completed by the middle of 2020.
This would be state's largest build-to-rent development, where all units will be let rather than sold to owner-occupiers.
Cherrywood is a government-designated Strategic Development Zone project, which will build a new town in the Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown area.
It will comprise over 7,700 new homes, six schools, three parks and leisure facilities and will be supported by an existing light rail system.
Robert-Jan Foortse, the head of European Property Investments of APG, said that having made comparable long-term residential investments in other markets such as London, Madrid and Helsinki, APG is always looking for attractive real estate investments that help it realise stable and long-term returns for its pension fund clients.
"In a severely undersupplied market such as Dublin, we are pleased that this investment addresses this unserved demand in a meaningful way by enabling the development of over 1,200 dwellings," he added.
Hines Development Director Gary Corrigan said the deal marked a new partnership framework for the company in Ireland.
"It bodes very well for other projects to be acquired and developed as we pursue the wider strategy to build out our joint venture into a substantial private rental platform over the coming years," he added.
