‘Further consideration’ for former Woodies site plans
PLANS for the development of 326 build-to-rent apartments at the former Woodies site in Belgard Square East in Tallaght require “further consideration/amendment”, according to An Bord Pleanála.
The plans were submitted last November as a pre-planning consultation by Ravensbrook Limited, which has a registered address in Parnell Square East and was set up in March 2020.
Pre-planning consultations are held in advance of developers submitting full planning applications for Strategic Housing Developments (SHDs).
The three directors of Ravensbrook are Monaco-based Siobhan Quinlan, a property investor and wife of financier Derek Quinlan; John Gordon, also with an address in Monaco, and solicitor Michael Quinlan, with an address in Castleknock.
The Quinlans previously submitted plans for a pre-planning consultation for 241 build-to-rent apartments at the Agnelli Motors site on the Greenhills Road under the company name of Green Optical Limited.
The plans for the Agnelli Motors site have a “reasonable basis” for a planning application for an SHD, An Bord Pleanála ruled last month.
The Woodies site was bought by property tycoon Bernard McNamara for approximately €20m before the recession.
Mr McNamara’s company, Laytar, originally acquired the former Woodies site from a group of investors assembled by businessman Derek Quinlan – whose wife is one of the directors of the company that lodged the plans for the pre-planning consultation for the Woodies site.
The site had originally been earmarked for a shopping facility and 350 apartments. However, these plans never came to fruition and the site went back on the market in 2016 for €4.5m.
The new proposal for the Woodies site is the latest of a number of large SHDs proposed for the central Tallaght area.
Approved developments include a €110m, 502-unit apartment development at the site of the former Gallahers cigarette factory on the Greenhills Road.
The former Cable and Wireless site on the corner of Airton Road and Belgard Road is set to house 328 apartments, across two apartment blocks, after developer Power Scaffolding Supplies Ltd was granted planning permission in 2020.
