Dublin City Council has refused planning permission to developer Noel Smyth’s Fitzwilliam Real Estate for a 12-storey, 159-unit build-to-rent scheme over part of the Arnotts store on Henry Street in Dublin.
The council said its refusal is supported by a policy in the Dublin City Development Plan that there would be a general presumption against large-scale residential developments which are comprised of 100 per cent build-to-rent units.
The council said that, “as such, the proposed development would seriously injure the amenities of the area”.
It said the proposed scheme, which would be predominantly comprised of one-bedroom and studio apartments, would be contrary to a city development plan policy aimed at encouraging sustainable residential communities which contain a wide variety of housing and apartment types.
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The authority concluded that the proposed development would, due to its excessive scale and height, appear visually incongruous on the skyline.
As such, the proposal would seriously injure the historic character of the city, it said.
The 22-page council planner’s report stated that the proposed development does not address a housing need for larger-sized dwellings in the Liberties and the North Inner City
The council also concluded that the proposed development, due to its excessive height and massing, would result in an inadequate standard of daylight and sunlight amenity within individual apartments.
The 22-page council planner’s report stated that the proposed development does not address a housing need for larger sized dwellings in the Liberties and the North Inner City while Council concerns over daylight and sunlight standards and visual impacts were not satisfactorily addressed by the applicant.
The 159 units proposed by Fitzwilliam Real Estate were comprised of 60 studios, 85 one-bedroom apartments and 14 two-bedroom units.
The scheme would involve the construction of a 12-storey-over-basement element fronting Williams Lane, a five-storey element over the Arnotts multistorey car park and a two-storey element over the Arnotts store.
It would see the removal of the top three floor levels of the existing multistorey car park.
Planning consultants for the scheme Tom Phillips & Associates contended that the proposed height and density of the scheme is fully supported by national planning policy.
Mr Smyth’s Fitzwilliam Real Estate also has plans before the council for a nine-storey, 245-bedroom hotel for the same site. The authority has sought additional information on the plans.
