Dublin City Council has given the green light to US property giant, Kennedy Wilson, to construct a new office campus at St Stephen's Green with capacity for 3,000 office workers.
The offices at Stokes Place at the junction of Stephen's Green South and Harcourt Street is currently the Dublin headquarters of KPMG.
Kennedy Wilson initially lodged plans to demolish the existing five to seven storey block and replace it with a four to eight storey building with 32,101 square metres of office space.
However, after neighbouring law firm, Byrne Wallace and others objected and the city council raised concerns, Kennedy Wilson has reduced the height to seven floors and made other revisions to reduce the scale of the scheme.
Granting permission for the revised scheme, the city council planner’s report stated the proposed development “will upgrade a prominent location . . . contribute to employment in the area and will allow for the construction of a modern building in an inner city location proximate to public transport and other amenities”.
The council said the proposed scheme “would not seriously injure existing buildings or the surrounding location”.
Byrne Wallace has complained that the original plan “constitutes excessive density” and expressed concern that it would overlook their offices and compromise client confidentiality.
Kennedy Wilson proposed opaque and solid panels where overlooking may be an issue, a move the council said was “likely to mitigate any potential for direct overlooking of neighbouring properties”.
