Fifty construction cranes were visible over the centre of Dublin on October 1st from the seventh floor of The Irish Times building on Tara Street.
This is an increase of four – or 9 per cent – on the previous month's total of 46. It is up 16 (or 47 per cent) on the 34 cranes recorded on February 1st when The Irish Times Crane Survey was first launched.
Ten cranes were located north of the river Liffey – the same as last month – while the remaining 40, up four (11 per cent) from the September 1st total, were concentrated in the south docklands and along the Grand Canal.
Listed Irish housebuilder Cairn Homes has just started construction of an 100-apartment scheme on a Hanover Quay site in Dublin’s south docklands which it acquired in February for €18 million. This will be one of the first large residential schemes to be built in the docklands for quite some time.
Nearby on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay work has just begun restoring the second of the former BJ Marine campshire buildings which Denis O’Brien bought for around €1 million in 2013 from Nama. The first of these, 81b, close to the Samuel Beckett Bridge, has had a striking revamp. Now, the second of these 1880s warehouses is about to get the same treatment. Both of these riverside properties were handed over to Nama after the Government decided to dissolve the disgraced Dublin Docklands Development Authority.
With the economy expected to continue its recovery this year 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.
