Plan for five-storey office scheme off Baggot Street blocked

The Irish Georgian Society and a number of locals have been successful in blocking a proposed five-storey office development off Baggot Street in Dublin 2.

An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission to the Eric Kinsella-led Esprit Investments Ltd for the development, which also included two apartments, on the site of a car park between 72 Baggot Street and 4 Herbert Place.

The investment and development firm first lodged the planning application in December 2020 and Dublin City Council granted planning permission for the scheme in June 2021 despite objections.

The green light, however, was subject to seven separate third-party appeals to An Bord Pleanála.

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Along with the Irish Georgian Society, appeals were also lodged by RJ McBratney, Mark Harty SC, Marion and Adrian Masterson, Louis Masterson, Patrick and Elizabeth Spollen and Clive and Patricia Carroll.

The appeals board refused planning permission after concluding that the scheme would detract from the setting, character and appearance of the conservation area and seriously injure the amenities of the area.

The board made this finding having regard to the bulk, height and siting of the proposed development. It refused planning permission after its inspector in the case, Dolores McCague, recommended that planning permission be refused.

Ms McCague said the proposed development offered an opportunity for development in a central area, “but the site is not calling out for urban regeneration”. She said that in its current state it is not in any sense an eyesore or a blight on the area.

She also said the proposed development did not provide an improved streetscape and “on the contrary it would diminish the streetscape”.

Ms McCague said a development such as what was proposed – a bespoke, large-format office development with a limited residential component – did not achieve the aims of the area’s zoning, which is to maintain and enhance these areas as active residential streets.

The Irish Georgian Society claimed that the scheme would result in significant negative impacts on the architectural heritage value of neighbouring protected structures.

In the case, the appellants claimed that the construction of a development of such a considerable scale, bulk and height at close proximity to the protected structures at Herbert Place and Baggot Street Lower would undermine the historic relationship between these terraces and the traditional proportional relationship in scale between these significant buildings and backland development at Herbert Lane.

The most recent accounts for Esprit Investments and subsidiaries show that it recorded pretax profits of €12.05 million in 2021 as revenues increased by 6 per cent from €17.08 million to €18.16 million.