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AN BORD PLEANÁLA has granted permission for the construction of a seven-storey student accommodation complex in Dublin’s north inner city.
SP Bakery Ltd received approval from the authority to built a 257-bed complex on the site of the old St Peter’s Bakery on Parnell Street under fast-track planning regulations.
Permission for the development, which will be constructed less than 200m from the site of an existing 491-bed student complex on Gardiner Street and near another 374-bed complex in Summerhill, was lodged in February under the Strategic Development Plan.
The plan allows developments of more than 100 homes or student complexes with more than 200 bed spaces to bypass Dublin City Council and be made directly to An Bord Pleanála instead.
The new development will be constructed on the site of a former bakery complex, which is a protected structure dating to the early 20th century and is currently occupied by a printing business and furniture warehouse.
The complex will be built in five different blocks ranging from four to seven storeys in height, and will contain between three and 23 apartments.
It will also feature indoor an outdoor communal and recreational facilities, including a coffee bar, a media zone, a games room, a gym, a laundry and roof gardens.
The application also contained permission for a mixed-use residential office development, although this was refused by An Bord Pleanála.
Local residents in the area made a number of third-party submissions to the board regarding the development, which included concerns about an ongoing lack of social and affordable homes in the area and that the complex would overlook nearby homes.
A number of elected representatives, including councillors Ray McAdam, Mannix Flynn, Ciaran Cuffe, and Éilis Ryan, reiterated these claims, and pointed to an over-supply of student accommodation in the area.
Local conservation group The Mountjoy Square Society also raised similar issues, while adding that the development was over-scaled and that the applicant had mis-represented the architectural heritage of the original site.
In response, An Bord Pleanála said it considered that student accommodation was acceptable in the area, and that it did not anticipate an over-concentration of similar developments.
It also noted the impact on adjoining residents and made some recommendations regarding the height of one part of the proposed complex, but said the visual impact of the development was acceptable.
The authority concluded that the proposed development was “broadly acceptable”, subject to the removal of one storey from one of the blocks and some other conditions.
Speaking after permission was granted, Workers’ Party councillor Éilis Ryan said the board’s approval made “a mockery” of the provisions of the Strategic Development Plan to prevent excessive levels of student accommodation in one part of the city.
“There’s no appeals process here for an extremely expensive profitable commercial development,” she told TheJournal.ie.
“It’s extremely undemocratic. The students themselves won’t have a detrimental impact on the area, but what’s needed here is social housing for people in the area, not a private development.”
It is not known when construction on the new complex is expected to begin.
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Not a word in the article to say why the bakery is “historic”. Did oul Mr. Brennan make his first sliced pan there or something? Old doesn’t automatically mean historic.
@John Considine: Bread White bread!!!!!! Historical…… or maybe Dev’s Cousin’s friend walked passed there and seen his reflection in the windows. Who knows. They tell us nothing unless it’s got something in it for them.
@John Considine: it’s a Charles Herbert Ashworth building.
@John Considine: Kennedys bread fed us all for years, loved the crusty outer slices. Ate them on the way home from the shops!
Will the pillar stones at the gateways be kept in place, to preserve the history of the horse drawn carts, that wore away the entrances?
The councillors are great. “Don’t build that type of development “ “ don’t build over four floors” pathetic !
@Shane Murphy: this is a seven-story development.
Obviously plenty of ‘ bread’ involved and to be made there.. the perfect cover…
It is ashame government can’t purchase these buildings, redevelop them into student accommodation and then rent them out at affordable prices, all the while ensuring the tax payer a small return or break even on the cost. This will be another student accommodation for the wealthy foreign students.
@Charles McGuire: And owned & managed from some off shore corporation to avoid local taxation.
All rented housing needs to be state controlled at affordable rents, to moderate the cost of purchase housing. The State must operate on behalf of its people, not on behalf of the market, which is manipulated for profit, mainly by offshore tax avoidance schemes.
This is more likely going to be filled by international students who can afford to pay the high rent, not Irish students. Again, another reason for people to land in to Dublin and stretch the rental sector even further. Those living in the country already and paying rent are being completely ignored by the government which pursues a growth at all costs philosophy.
Enough is enough main party’s hand there arses in euro an locals. Won’t be long before a split when spice boy is shown the door
@Tommy D: and in English that means….
What exactly?
Makes sense as we look to profit from a targeting of foreign students, expect fees to jump in the coming years too. Money to be made lads!
Very hard to find a decent loaf of bread these days.
All frozen or possessed cardboard these days.
Oversupply will mean reduced rents or empty buildings !
Sad to read Ireland suffering the same student housing blight as many University towns in England. In the UK’s case it was a tax dodge introduced by George Osborne that did it. There are Student building firms on top of this who are registered overseas for tax purposes too, so it’s lose-lose all round. All the while, (empty) shop doorways are filled with the homeless. The possibility of even a place to rent just a dream.
About time!!!This type of student housing works all over the world. Perfect for first-year students. And will free up a lot of housing in all college towns and cities.
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