Developer Sean Mulryan's Ballymore Group will submit a fast-track planning application to An Bord Pleanála today for the development of a 23-storey apartment block in Dublin city centre.
The proposed tower forms part of the wider Connolly Quarter mixed-use scheme, Ballymore and its Singapore-headquartered partner, Oxley Holdings, are aiming to deliver on a 2.88 hectare (7.12 acre) site adjacent to Connolly Station in Dublin 1.
All told, the developer is seeking permission for the construction of 741 Build-to-Rent (BTR) apartments distributed across eight blocks ranging in height from four storeys (39.6m) to 23 storeys (79.45m). The apartments proposed for the Connolly Quarter comprise a mix of studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom units.
Today's application relates to the residential element of the scheme only. A proposal for the development of two office buildings, and a hotel will be the subject of a separate planning application to Dublin City Council at a later date.
Should the proposed apartment complex secure approval, the units there would cater for the upper end of the private rental market. As part of its application, Ballymore is looking to provide tenants at the Connolly Quarter with a number of onsite amenities including a gym, residents’ lounge, work areas, meeting rooms, dining rooms, and a recreational area.
Ballymore's bid to build a 23-storey residential tower comes just five days after developer Pat Crean's Marlet Property Group submitted its own proposal to Dublin City Council to increase the height of an 11-storey office block it is developing on the site of the former Apollo House to 21 storeys. Should its application for College Square be successful, Marlet intends to deliver a 10-storey tower with 54 apartments on top of the 11-storey office development that already has planning permission and is under construction.
Ambitious
But while Ballymore and Marlet’s applications may seem ambitious when viewed within the context of Dublin city centre’s existing skyline, both are relatively modest when compared to developer Johnny Ronan’s proposal for RGRE’s Project Waterfront scheme in Dublin’s north docklands.
Following a recent review of building heights within the Dublin Docklands Strategic Development Zone (SDZ), Mr Ronan has entered into preplanning discussions with Dublin City Council and is aiming to increase the number of apartments on the 4.6 acre site from 420 to 1,000 units distributed across two towers rising in height to 44 and 40 storeys respectively.
At 155m, the taller of these blocks would be more than three times the height of Liberty Hall (51m), and nearly twice the height of the 88m (22-storey) office and hotel tower on Tara Street for which Ronan secured planning permission earlier this year. At 22 storeys meanwhile, Kennedy Wilson’s Capital Dock development is the tallest residential scheme in Dublin city centre currently.
