Plans to limit height of Dundrum Town Centre expansion

Plans to limit the height of a proposed extension to Dundrum Town Centre have been put forward by the cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.

Barry Saul tabled the amendment to the draft development plan that would see development limited to three storeys to protect the streetscape of the town’s Main Street.

Dundrum Town Centre is one of Europe’s most successful shopping centres with 124,774sq m (1,343,000sq ft) of floor space. Opened in 2005, it attracts 18 million visitors a year.

Its developer Joe Reilly is associated with the adjacent Dundrum village centre fronting on to Main Street, which dates from the 1970s.

A company associated with Mr Reilly secured planning permission in 2010 to redevelop the older village centre, in effect as an extension to his town centre development, adding a library, a supermarket, almost 80 shops, restaurants, a hotel, apartments, a medical centre and a 1,900-space car park.

The village centre was never demolished and planning permission for its redevelopment lapsed earlier this year.

Proposed amendment

Now, Mr Saul’s proposed amendment, which comes as the county development plan 2016-2022 is being drafted, would make it extremely difficult for the centre owners to secure new planning permission higher than three storeys, at least for the next seven years.

The move is also a potential setback for the new owners of the former Nama loans associated with Dundrum Town Centre. British property company Hammerson and financial services group Allianz have agreed to pay €1.85 billion for the loans associated with the centre and other assets in Dublin.