Urban Redevelopment: Harry Crosbie is planning to build a €500m scheme including a shopping centre and apartments writes Jack Fagan
The Point Depot and the immediate area around it in the Dublin docklands is to be redeveloped into a €500 million entertainment, leisure, shopping and residential village. The shopping element alone will account for at least 23,225 sq m (250,000 sq ft).
A planning application for the mixed use development is to be lodged early in the new year by businessman Harry Crosbie following his assembly of a 10-acre site adjoining the Point and its two-acre grounds. His most recent acquisition involved the Shell filling station which stands on 2.4 acres beside the main entrance to the car-park at The Point. Sites in this pivotal area are generally valued at €12 million an acre.
Mr Crosbie, who was not available for comment yesterday, is part owner of The Point along with international concert promoters Apollo Leisure Group. He also has a stake in nearby Spencer Dock and owns The Clarence Hotel along with Bono and The Edge.
Mr Crosbie has spent the best part of a decade assembling the the 10-acre site which has already been zoned for a shopping centre and glazed streets with a mixture of shops, restaurants, bars, medical centre and other essential services. The overall site is strategically located opposite the East Link Bridge and is thought to be valued at between €120 and €150 million.
The complex will also include a 200-bedroom hotel, 350 apartments and commercial facilities, all serviced by an underground car-park which will be capable of accommodating up 1,000 cars. There will also be a 12-screen multiplex cinema and a range of family entertainment attractions.
The overall plan will include a high rise tower to match the one due to be built by U2 on the opposite side of the quays.
"The two towers will mark the maritime gateway to Dublin city," according to one source.
The Point Village will have the hotel on the corner facing the East Link roundabout. The proposed district shopping complex will be located near the centre of the site and will have a broad range of shops including an anchor food store.
The retail facilities will cater not only for the expected increase in population of 25,000 in the docklands but also for the suburbs of Clontarf and Fairview on the northside, Sandymount and Ringsend on the south.
The easy accessibility of the shopping centre to these densely populated areas will guarantee its success, according to one planning official.
The overall plan also includes a remodelling and upgrading of The Point Depot which attracts up to one million patrons a year and generates €75 million to the city each year.
The entrance to the concert venue will be via either the stone arches on the riverside frontage or directly from a dedicated multi-storey car-park.
The existing bars on the North Wall will be converted into an impressive stone walled foyer linking in to the new hospitality areas.
The improvements will include the installation of upholstered seating, new restaurants and bars and better backstage and production facilities.
