Marlet Property Group has reportedly bought the 0.72 acre site of the former Apollo House on Tara Street for over €40M. The site has permission in place for a 136K SF office block.

According to the Irish Independent, a deal is understood to have been agreed in recent days.

Marlet already owns a significant site in the same block. In July, the developer  was given the go ahead to demolish the former College House and Screen Cinema buildings on that adjacent site and to build a 10-storey office building with café/restaurant units and a 500-seat entertainment venue.

The Apollo House site, meanwhile, has permission for a 10-storey over-basement office building with ground floor retail and food and beverage units.

Apollo House was in the news at the end of 2016 when it was occupied by activists and homeless people for almost a month. The building, which was demolished earlier this year, was previously owned by Garrett Kelleher’s Shelbourne Development and home to the Department of Social Protection until 2015.

At the end of September, the site was put on the market through Savills by receivers Simon Coyle and Tom O’Brien of Mazars. It was expected to sell for between €40M and €45M.