A seven-storey, 434-bed hostel development has been granted planning permission at an “eyesore” location on Townsend Street in Dublin 2.
Planning permission was sought by ORHRE Management Services Limited for the 97 shared room development at a long-derelict site at the corner of Townsend Street and Lombard Street East.
The Guinness sign on 114 Townsend Street remains the only indication of its previous life as the Countess Markievicz pub, while a poster in the second-floor window of number 113 reveals its tenure as a chipper named the Seashell Fish Bar.
The structure of both buildings is largely intact, but number 112, once the Grand pub, is largely vacant.
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The site is now set for partial demolition, but the facade at 114 Townsend Street is to be retained.
The new hostel rooms will be a mixture of two- to 10-bed units amounting to 434 beds for tourist use, with the addition of a ground-floor cafe and kitchen in the building, which will rise to as much as seven storeys. The upper two floors will be set back.
In the application, planning consultants John Spain Associates argued the height of the development is “in keeping with the overall context of the area”, and pointed to six-storey buildings on Pearse Street and nearby hotels within 250m that are taller than 10 storeys.
The planning consultants described the area as “highly accessible” and noted they considered it “highly appropriate for a tourist hostel”.
The consultants argued the location, close to “major businesses” in the IFSC and Grand Canal areas, would provide accommodation both for those travelling for work and for tourists close to nearby attractions. Their report said the hostel would differ from the “typical hotel typologies which dominate Dublin” and that there were no other hostels within 500m of the site.
Father and son property developers Charlie and Max O’Reilly Hyland are behind ORHRE Management Services Limited.
The site of more than 500sq m stretches around to Lombard Street East and will take up numbers 19 and 20 on that street, which are also vacant after the First Stop garage closed.
Local resident and architect Cian McKenna wrote in support of the nature of the proposal. He described the derelict site as “an eyesore for the neighbourhood” but called upon the council to request a “more beautiful and robust design” for the hostel development.
A number of local residents from the City Quay committee submitted largely identical objections to the scheme, warning of overshadowing, saturation of short-stay accommodation and overdevelopment. They suggested social housing be built instead.
Sinn Féin councillor Kourtney Kenny objected to the application, saying it would lead to an overconcentration of tourist accommodation.
“The area has been saturated with hotels, short-term lets such as Airbnbs and other forms of transient accommodation,” she said, noting the development would “exacerbate” the issue.
Dublin City Council approved the development last week. A sum of €357,399 is required to be paid to the council as a development contribution, with a further €131,575 to be paid as the development is within the catchment area for the Luas docklands contribution scheme.
