Plan for 438 apartments and 403 student bed-space scheme off Belgard Road
By Mary Dennehy
A PLANNING application for 438 apartments, a 403 bed-space student accommodation scheme and a new urban quarter on a 7.2 hectare site off the Belgard Road has been lodged with An Bord Pleanála.
A notice for the Belgard Gardens “strategic housing development” has recently been erected on the site, which lies at the junction of Belgard Road and Belgard Square North.
An artist's impression of the proposed development
As reported in The Echo, Marlet property group acquired the site, for a reported €16 million in 2017 – with a number of individual units assembled into one land package for the sale.
The site, which stretches back towards the Belgard Retail Park, contains a number of vacant buildings that were once home to Cuisine de France, Uniphar and Kerry Group.
The proposed development will include the demolition of all existing buildings.
According to the site notice, Atlas GP Ltd intends to apply to An Bord Pleanála for permission for a “strategic housing development”, which will consist of a mixed-use residential development across five blocks, including a new urban quarter and streets.
The proposed development has gone straight to An Board Pleanála, following a pre-application consultation with South Dublin County Council, due to new fast-track legislation introduced last year in response to the housing crisis.
The new law applies to ‘strategic housing developments’, which are large-scale housing developments.
The site off the Belgard Road earmarked for development (pic: Ben Ryan)
The application received by An Bord Pleanála provides for 438 apartments (158 one-bed, 230 two-bed and 50 three-bed) over four blocks, ranging in height from four to 10 storeys.
Within the 438 apartments are also eight live/work units for people working from home who require an office space.
Purpose-built student accommodation and associated amenity facilities are also included in the plans.
According to the site notice, a 403 bed-space student accommodation scheme of six to nine storeys in height is also proposed.
An aerial view of the back of the site from the Belgard Retail Park (pic: Ben Ryan)
The bed spaces, which will be provided within studio clusters, will be used for student accommodation or accommodation related to a Higher Education Institute.
The student scheme also provides for a common room, gym, study room, laundry room and reception/parcel station and staff facilities to include offices, kitchen and shower facilities.
Also provided for in the scheme are six retail/commercial units and a childcare facility with ancillary outdoor play area.
Some 107 car parking spaces and 1,227 cycle spaces will be provided alongside two semi-private courtyards with children’s play spaces.
A public plaza of around 2,366 sq m is also in the plans and a multi-use games area.
The proposed development will include the provision of a “new north-south street bisecting the site, which will later connect to the planned Airton Road Extension”.
As reported in The Echo back in July 2017, South Dublin County Council proposed to build a link road between Belgard Square North into Cookstown.
In a recent comment to The Echo about the new link road, a spokesperson for the council confirmed that the Belgard North to Cookstown link road and the Airton Road Extension are both included in its three-year capital programme.
“The purpose of the roads in question is to open up the lands north of Belgard Road North for development and improved vehicular access to the hospital,” the spokesman said.
The application, together with an Environmental Impact Assessment Report, can be viewed at the offices of An Bord Pleanála and South Dublin County Council.
The proposed development is currently open for submissions and observations, with An Bord Pleanála having 16 weeks from receipt of the application to make its decision.
A website has also been set up with details of the development, http://belgardgardens1shd.ie/.
