There were 70 construction cranes visible over the centre of Dublin on April 1st from the seventh floor of The Irish Times building on Tara Street.
This is an increase of five – or 8 per cent – on March's total of 65 and a rise of 36 (or 105 per cent) on the 34 cranes recorded on February 1st, 2016, when The Irish Times crane survey was launched.
Construction is focused on the south side, where there were 60 cranes – an increase of four (or 7 per cent) on the February total. Ten cranes were visible north of the Liffey – unchanged on the March total. This total looks set to rise rapidly as clearance work is under way at a number of substantial sites in the north docks.
Warehouse replaced
Meanwhile, site clearance work is under way on the last remaining site on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay downriver of the Samuel Beckett Bridge. A warehouse at 76 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay is being replaced with a 7,014sq m (75,498sq ft) office building which is due for completion in April 2019.
Designed by architects RKD, the developer is the Target Investment Opportunities ICAV fund backed by a combination of Oaktree Capital, Bennett Developments and Nama.
Letting agent Savills says typical lettable floors will extend to 901sq m (9,700sq ft) and, when complete, it will mean that all the buildings from the Ferryman pub to the mouth of Dodder will have been completed within the past 15 years.
Nearby, work is proceeding with replacing U2’s former Windmill Lane recording studios with a four- to six-storey office building and 15 apartments with ground-floor retail.
With the economy expected to continue its recovery and a number of significant developments due to enter the construction phase shortly, it is likely the number of cranes on Dublin’s skyline will increase.
The Irish Times will be conducting a crane survey once a month to track construction levels in the city.
