New location for Tallaght Heritage Centre

WATCH:

The Tallaght Heritage Centre will now be delivered at an existing building by the Tallaght Luas stop, where it will be co-located with a “restaurant” and expected to open in 2028.

The new Tallaght Heritage Centre will be located at a repurposed and refurbished Unit G1/2 at Tallaght Cross West and will be delivered alongside a new food offering for the local area.

A new Part 8 will be sought for the alternate location after the original plan had received Part 8 and the centre is expected to open in Autumn 2028, according to the council’s presentation.

The new location is a two-floor, 1,115 sq m offering and the centre can be located on both floors, with a location expected to be a restaurant located on the ground floor to help increase time spent at the site.

South Dublin County Council will acquire the property for an agreed purchase sum.

The combined total of the estimated fit-out plus acquisition costs for this building are significantly less than the costs associated with building a stand-alone heritage centre on the Part 8 approved site, which was 836 sq m.

The Heritage Centre project was expected to be a new build, but an alternative site was sought due to rising costs – the original plan cost the local authority €7.5m, more than double their original budget.

The initial option for the new heritage centre was a new build located near the Civic Theatre on the Old Blessington Road and a budget of €3m was set aside for this.

However, in May 2025, Tallaght councillors had passed a motion calling on the local authority to consider an alternative existing location to house the project, and the location near the Luas stop was decided on after negotiations with multiple landowners.

SDCC Acting Senior Executive Officer for Economic Development Paul Fusco detailed the council’s process.

Mr Fusco said: “We explored opportunities to repurpose a number of vacant sites around the Tallaght Town Centre location.

“So, that work supports the wider economic activity and seeks to reduce commercial vacancy.

“There’s a commercial vacancy rate in D24 of about 11.6 per cent as of Q4 last year and a number of vacant properties were assessed by the Economic Development department just in the location in and around County Hall.”

The council noted that the alternative location presents an opportunity to develop a mixed-use building that will entice people to check it out and spend time there.

The mixed-use building will also support the implementation of the Tallaght Evening Time Economy Plan.

SDCC will work to finalise the property acquisition by Q3 this year in tandem with advancing the planning process and obtain Part 8 approval before the end of Q1 2027.