Whoever bought the Stillorgan Shopping Centre knew they were going to have a fight on their hands. The previous owners, the Bank of Ireland Pension Fund, locked horns with the residents and had their plans turned down by An Bord Pleanala.
Now the new owners, Castlemarket Holdings, in which Treasury Holdings holds a 50 per cent interest, are gearing up to argue their case at a Bord Pleanala oral hearing in November.
Johnny Rohan and Richard Barrett's ambitious plans to completely redesign and greatly enlarge the shopping centre were approved by Dublin Corporation last February. A month later that approval was appealed to An Bord Pleanala, mainly by local residents. Castlemarket bought the shopping centre in 1996 for £38 million. It had been built in 1966 amid great excitement, as it was the first purpose-built shopping centre to be opened in Dublin. From the start it was a success, and even now, over thirty years later, units attract substantial premiums on the rare occasion they come on the market.
However, little has been done over the years to change the look of the centre and it is showing its age. Compared with the new crop of suburban centres such Bloomfields in Dun Laoghaire and even Blackrock, Stillorgan, with its strip mall layout, has started to look very dated.
There are currently 63 retail outlets with a lettable space of 140,000 sq ft - Tesco, with 43,000 sq ft, and Dunnes, with 16,000 sq ft, are the anchor tenants. A surface car park at the front of the centre means that the actual building is far back from the road.
Castlemarket plan to double the size of the building by adding a further 140,000 sq ft. To do this, the surface car park will be built on and their original plans proposed increasing the height of the building to four floors, two of which will be for parking. The planners demanded that the development be reduced by 40,000 sq ft, which is in effect an entire storey. Castlemarket are appealing to An Bord Pleanala to get that extra storey back. The residents have mounted formidable opposition to the development. Their objections centre on the extra noise the centre will create, the increased volume of traffic it will attract and the general height and size of the building. As a spokesperson for one sizeable objector, The Beaufield Park Residents' Association, says "What Treasury are trying to do is build a greenfield development in a built-up area."
Certainly the centre's new facade will be closer to local houses, and some residents claim that it will now be as near as eight metres from their front doors - a major change from the existing surface car park. To illustrate how this will impact on them, one local resident inflated a balloon to the 54 ft height of the proposed centre in a front garden of his house. The balloon towered above his 27 ft eaves.
They are also concerned about the proximity of the service yard to the 60 houses in Beaufield Park. They are worried about the up ramps and the attendant noise and outdoor lighting.
The new top floor car park will be open air and residents fear that thanks to the trend in extended trading hours, this will be floodlit and so beam unwelcome light into nearby houses as late as 10 pm in the evening, seven days a week.
The noise and inconvenience created by the actual building of such a massive development is a further source of concern to locals. The residents of Woodlands fear that increased traffic will make it virtually impossible to leave their roads and nearly all objectors mention the increased traffic that the centre will inevitably bring. As expected, Castlemarket counter all objections. They point out that the centre is in desperate need of upgrading and that their architects A & D Wejchert have designed an attractive contemporary shopping centre. Upmarket stores need upmarket surroundings. Their trump card is that the area they are trying to build on is zoned commercial and that they are building in accordance with that zoning.
They say they have paid particular attention to the noise and traffic objections. To counteract the extra noise created, particularly by deliveries, they have factored in half a million pounds worth of noise mitigation measures. As for traffic, Castlemarket points to how the centre is currently used.
They say that because of the mix of shops in the centre and its general unattractiveness, shoppers are using it as a convenience centre, hopping in and out all day creating permanent traffic buildup. The new centre will be more of a "once you're in, you stay there" type of shopping experience, encouraging Stillorgan residents not to drive to Blackrock, Dun Laoghaire or even into the city centre to shop. They will instal a computer-managed traffic system to co-ordinate parking and say that they will also be employing people to assist motorists find spaces, carry bags etc. A top floor car park has been a thorny issue for nearly two decades. The previous owners wanted to instal a floodlit car park, but planning approval for this was overturned at An Bord Pleanala stage, thanks to pressure from the residents.
This time around, the planners have insisted that the roof top car park is closed after dark so there is no need for it to be floodlit in the evenings. Castlemarket agree to this stipulation and point to this detail, saying that residents are objecting to things that are not even in their plans. Other detailed objections will be thrashed out at the oral hearing. Residents insist that Castlemarket are using an area of land that is zoned residential to turn trucks; Treasury reply that that is allowed under the zoning. Residents point out that the centre is built on rock and that the drilling to lay new foundations will cause major disruption; according to Castlemarket, the planners have slapped work time limitations on them and that while the construction will last an estimated year and a half, work can only be carried on during certain hours. One thing that both Castlemarket and the residents agree on is that something needs to be done to update the Stillorgan Shopping Centre. Preparing for the oral hearing at the Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire on November 10th, 11th and 12th, both sides are confident of winning.
For one thing, the residents have the experience of going up against a major developer and winning. Castlemarket, on the other hand, are confident of not only winning but of reinstating the 40,000 sq feet that the planners took off them. They consistently point to the quality of the new design for the centre and point out that it's not in their interest to build anything that will alienate the people of Stillorgan.
