More than 700 social and cost-rental apartments, in blocks up to 15 storeys tall, are to be built in Cherry Orchard in west Dublin in the largest Land Development Agency (LDA) and Dublin City Council scheme so far approved by An Bord Pleanála.
The 547 cost rental and 161 social housing apartments represent the first phase in the development of more than 1,100 homes on a large land bank just north of Park West railway station and to the east of the M50.
The apartment scheme is the largest joint project undertaken by the LDA and the council to date, and will result in the development of council lands that have been earmarked for housing for more than a decade but where plans failed to progress.
The apartments are designed in 16 blocks ranging in height from four to 15 storeys, with 28 studios, 263 one-bed, 368 two-bed and 49 three-bed apartments.
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Amenities including a supermarket, commercial and retail units, community and cultural spaces and a childcare facility, will be included. Permission was also granted for a landscaped public open space, including a plaza, “multipurpose amenity lawn”, outdoor fitness trail, play space and games area.
The apartments will have an A building energy rating, with heat pump systems, photovoltaic panels and insulation. Many will have views over communal parkland or landscaped courtyard gardens. All apartments will have a balcony or terrace space, the LDA said.
With the Cherry Orchard area dominated by low-rise social housing, the new development is designed with a majority of cost-rental homes for low-and middle-income workers.
Under the cost-rental system, rents are based on the cost of building, managing and maintaining the homes, and not market rates. Tenants have long-term security, with leases running to several years available. Income limits for cost-rental housing applicants were last year increased to €66,000, after tax, in Dublin
In approving the proposed development, An Bord Pleanála said it would “positively contribute to compact growth and would make efficient use of an appropriately zoned greenfield/brownfield site within the urban area of Dublin city.”
The LDA will now progress with detailed design and to procure a main contractor, with a view to construction starting by the end of 2025.
The apartment development, Cherry Orchard Point, is part of a wider regeneration of the area under the Park West-Cherry Orchard Local Area Plan, approved by city councillors in October 2019.
Dave Dinnigan, director of housing delivery with the council said the board’s decision was a boost to the council’s plans for more “mixed tenure” housing. “I would like to acknowledge the support of local councillors for this scheme, which will now deliver high-quality housing and amenities in an area that we have identified as suitable for future growth.”
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