New suburb takes shape in industrial estate

Planning & DevelopmentServed by the Luas and the M50, Sandyford Industrial Estate is being transformed into a high-rise and high density area but locals are concerned about the scale of development planned, writes Edel Morgan

Sandyford is in a state of transition. All around its future is emerging, with high-rise buildings either dotting the horizon or under construction. At the same time the remnants of its industrial low-rise past are still very much in evidence.

The pace of development has left many residents in the area reeling. Sandyford Action Group has formed to protest against the draft urban framework plan which Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has proposed to guide future development in the former industrial estate.

The action group says the draft framework plan is a "completely inadequate document" on which to base the future planning of the area and it is calling for a local area plan.

It is understandable that residents are reacting to the speed of change and calling for a more co-ordinated approach to development. They are seeing their once low-rise Dublin 18 suburb transformed beyond recognition to an area of "gateway" and "landmark" buildings, terms they say were hi-jacked by the council to justify heights of up to 32 storeys.

They point to deficiencies in the social infrastructure, road network and public transport, saying the area cannot sustain an unprecedented height and density. Once redeveloped, the former industrial estate will have 6,000 new homes to accommodate at least 12,000 residents.

Residents are frightened that the plan will generate an eventual population the size of Dundalk or Drogheda.

During the summer a report from UK-based consultants Urban Initiatives, commissioned by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, suggested the area could support landmark buildings up to 32 storeys in height, identifying 27 suitable sites.

The report, which forms part of the draft framework plan, contradicts an earlier building heights study, which suggested Sandyford be restricted to six-storey buildings with exceptional approval for buildings up to 20 storeys. The new report recommends four different landmark categories for planning approval ranging from "local landmark" to "regional and anchor landmark" of 14 storeys to a potential 32 storeys.

Calling development in Sandyford has been "piecemeal" to date, it also recommended substantial upgrading of the access routes into Sandyford, including a redesign of the Leopardstown interchange.

The move to create a framework plan came after An Bord Pleanála raised concerns about planning developments in the industrial estate. The board wrote to the council about the impact that so many high density developments (proposed or approved for the area) would have on the estate.

Over the next five years it is estimated that more than 400,000sq m (4.305 million sq ft) of office, retail and residential development is expected to come on stream in Sandyford.

Currently, 82,500sq m (888,022sq ft) is under construction while as much as 61,000sq m (656,600sq ft) has been granted permission.

A further 255,000sq m (2.69 million sq ft) is awaiting a planning decision. CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) calculates that 296,000sq m (3.186 million sq ft) of that will be office space, almost 100,000sq m (1.076 million sq ft) will be retail and there will be 5,900 residential units and 366 hotel rooms.

The redevelopment of Sandyford Industrial Estate has been ongoing for over a decade since Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council focused on the potential of the underused brownfield land. The opening of the Luas green line and the M50 provided a major boost for the area and the potential was not lost on a long list of developers who have carved out a piece of the action for themselves .

The Cork-based Fleming Group, for example, spent €245 million assembling a large site for the Rockbrook scheme, paying €165 million for the former Allegro site of 7.7 acres and €80 million for a smaller piece of land owned by Aldi.

The Fleming Group has begun building a vast residential, office and retail scheme on a key 11.4-acre site between the Stillorgan Luas station and Paddy Shovlin's Beacon South Quarter. The overall end value is likely to be over €1 billion.

It will have a total retail area of 21,467sq m (231,070sq ft) while the first phase will include 12,555sq m (135,142sq ft) of offices and 860 apartments.

A planning application has been submitted for the second phase which will have further offices and between 350 and 400 apartments in addition to the shopping facilities at street level.

With a handful of the shops already open at the 25,000sq m (269,100sq ft) of retail space in Beacon South Quarter, the promoters of the Fleming Group's "The Boulevard" suggest that, when their shopping area is in place, they will provide a "critical mass . . . a contemporary new town centre with about 44,000sq m (473,611sq ft) of retail space".

Beacon South Quarter, built by Landmark developments (a consortium led by former restaurant entrepreneur Paddy Shovlin and designed by Traynor O'Toole), is part of the redevelopment of the 12.5-acre former Microsoft campus, which Landmark acquired from Green Property for €40 million.

The brand includes the Beacon Hospital, Beacon Court, Beacon Consultants clinic and the Beacon Hotel. When it's finished Beacon South Quarter will have over 25,000sq m (269,100sq ft) of retail over two levels, 1,100 apartments, 2,100 car-parking spaces and a cultural centre.

Landmark quickly submitted a planning application for Sandyford Gateway at Beacon Court after the publication of the recommendations of the Sandyford framework plan. The application is seeking 35,077sq m (377,565sq ft) of office accommodation, 375 apartments, a library, crèche, local shops, café and 7,745sq m (83,366sq ft) of open landscaped space. The tallest building would be 24 storeys above the ground floor. If approved, it would include 19 floors of residential, a sky garden, health and leisure facilities, café, library, crèche, bars and a restaurant.

Three other buildings would rise to between 12 and 16 storeys and would have residential units. A previous proposal for a €600 million development on the site was refused permission by the local authority. The attraction to Sandyford for retailers is that there are 40,000 households within a 10-minute drive of Beacon South Quarter, which is projected to grow by over 5,000 households in the next two years given the number of new apartments earmarked for the area.

The total yearly expenditure of each household in the area is €46,000 - 33 per cent above the national average. Within 20 minutes that number of households rises to 550,000 with an average yearly spend of €44,000.

Two high profile and controversial schemes are being proposed for the former Siemens site on the corner on Blackthorn Avenue and developer Noel Smyth's M J Flood site nearby, which are on appeal with An Bord Pleanála.

On the Siemens site, a consortium of developers, called the CWWB partnership, want to build 13,600sq m (146,389sq ft) of offices, 800sq m (8,611sq ft) of retail, 72 residential units and a 20-storey tower while developer Noel Smyth's site would include a 24-storey tower and 1,734sq m (18,665sq ft) of retail and 247 residential units.

The CWWB partnership is also involved in the landmark Pinnacle development which includes 13,600sq m (146,389sq ft) of offices, 72 apartments and 800sq m (8,611sq ft) of retail.

South County Business Park is under construction with 13,269sq m (142,826sq ft) of offices due for completion next year. Landmark's "Sandyford Gateway" - which includes offices, retail, residential and leisure - is under construction and due for completion in 2010.

Cedarhurst Developments' Q House on Furze Road - which will involve nearly 11,000sq m (118,403sq ft) of offices - is also under construction.

South County Development's Red Oak North is complete with over 8,000sq m (86,111sq ft) of offices, and there is a proposal for a further 8,000sq m (86,111sq ft) to be called Red Oak South.

John Lally's Lalco has been prolific in the area with Vantage in Central Park, Leopardstown under construction comprising 461 residential units and 2,601sq m (28,000sq ft) of offices. Lalco has also submitted a planning application for One Sandyford East and One Sandyford West which, combined, will have nearly 26,000sq m (279,861sq ft) of offices, 9,290sq m (100,000sq ft) of retail, 189 hotel rooms and over 1,000 residential units.