A summary of the planning application for the site at the former Des Kelly showrooms on North Circular Road can be found below. Note this is a new application after a previous application was refused by Dublin City Council in January 2022

Updates

In August 2022 Dublin City Planning requested further details/changes from the applicant. These were provided in Dec 2022. The application was approved in Feb 2023. Details on the changes can be found on the planning website.

10-March-2023 - an appeal (ABP ref 315984) of Dublin City Council’s decision to grant permission has been lodged with An Bord Pleanála. Details can be found here.

Previous application

Dublin City Council refused planning permission for the previous application in January 2022. The grounds for refusal were:

• Overall scale will be visually intrusive and overbearing. The excessive height and architectural quality together with the materials/windows will likely impact adversely on the character of the surrounding Phibsborough Architectural Conservation Area.
• Daylight/sunlight on adjoining properties.
• The development proposes residential accommodation which is considered to be sub-standard.

New Application

Mixed Development

The development comprises:

• Café - 40 sqm at the Royal Canal Bank level
• Retail - 1,950 sqm essentially all of ground floor at the North Circular Rd level
• Residential - 80 units

Unit types

Current mix of the 80 residential units (96 in previous application) is:

• 19 studio units (23 in previous application)
• 19 one bedroom units (25 in previous application)
• 41 two bedroom units (47 in previous application)
• 1 three bedroom unit (as per previous application)

Social Housing

Under Part V the development will set aside 8 units (1 studios, 3 one bedroom units, and 4 two bedroom units) for social housing. No details have been provided on how much Dublin City Council will pay for these units.

Height

The development comprises a lower ground floor, ground floor and and additional 7 storeys above the ground floor (11 in previous application).

Depending on where you measure from (i.e. NCR or Royal Canal Bank) the main tower is between 28.5m and 31m.

Zoning

The site is zoned as “District Centres – Zone Z4” which intends to provide for and improve mixed-services facilities.

Plot ratio and site coverage

• Plot Ratio - 3.8 (amount of floorspace in relation to the site area). The indicative Plot Ratio in the current development plan for Z4 zoned land is 2. The development plan outlines circumstances where a higher plot ratio is allowed.
• Site Coverage - 95% (the percentage of the site covered by building structures). The indicative Site Coverage in the current development plan for Z4 zoned land is 80%. The development plan outlines circumstances where a higher Site Coverage is allowed.

Parking

The development will provide

• 13 car spaces for the retail element (17 in previous application)
• 13 car spaces for the residential element (21 in previous application)
• 2 club car spaces
• 186 cycle parking spaces (210 in previous application)

Entry will be from Phibsborough Road and exit will be onto Royal Canal Bank

Full plans

Full plans for the development can be found here. The last day for observations on this application is Thursday, 7th of July.

Getting in touch

Please get in contact with me at neasa.hourigan@oireachtas.ie if there are any queries in relation to this matter.