A renewed bid by the Irish arm of property firm, Hines, to construct a €646 million large-scale apartment scheme on the grounds of the former Holy Cross College in Drumcondra has met only limited opposition.
Hines partner fund, CWTC Multi-Family ICAV, lodged plans last month with Dublin City Council for a 10-year planning permission for the 1,131-home scheme that includes a 13-storey apartment block for the site on Clonliffe Rd.
The new application comes four years after Hines lodged its original plan for 1,614 apartment units under the Strategic Housing Development (SHD) framework to An Bord Pleanála.
Only three local residents have called for outright refusal of the latest application.
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More than 120 submissions were made on the original build-to-rent scheme, including an objection from Sinn Féin party leader, Mary Lou McDonald. She stated that if planning is approved, it would only further exacerbate the housing crisis.
An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission for the original development but that permission was quashed by the High Court after a challenge was brought by Fionnuala Sherwin from Foxrock, Dublin 18.
With the date for third party submissions on the latest plan now closed, the city council has received just eight submissions with only three calling for a refusal of planning permission for the entire development.
The 1,131 apartments in the new scheme would be built across 12 apartment blocks ranging in height from three to 13 storeys.
Local resident Alison Hay is one of those who has called on Dublin City Council to reject the entire scheme, arguing that “a building height of 13 storeys is incongruent and sets an unwanted precedent for further developments. This is further amplified by having multiple apartment blocks of similar heights close together near Drumcondra Road”.
Denis McGee of Distillery Rd said the scheme was inappropriate and “will completely destroy residential amenity in the immediate area in the short, medium, and long term”.
Broadly welcoming the proposal, Dublin Central Labour TD, Marie Sherlock said in a submission that “this site must be used to provide housing”.
“In the context of a housing crisis both in our city and in the country at large, it is vital that sites such as this be converted into space for new homes,” she said.
“However, it is just as vital that the homes constructed are sustainable, high-quality and affordable. These homes must also be integrated meaningfully within the existing community and provide real options for people to put down roots and live in the area long-term if they wish.”
