Plans by the Irish arm of property giant Hines to build a €646 million large-scale apartment development on the grounds of the former Holy Cross College in Drumcondra, north Dublin, have been stalled.
An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) has confirmed it received one third-party appeal against the decision by Dublin City Council (DCC) to give the green light to the development. It would involve the construction of a 1,131-unit scheme, including a 13-storey apartment block, at the site of Holy Cross College, Clonliffe Road in Drumcondra. CWTC Multi Family ICAV, a partner fund of Hines, had sought and been granted DCC permission.
The 1,131 apartments are to comprise 268 studios, 282 one-bed apartments, 392 two-bed apartments, 132 three-bed units and 57 four-bed units.
The appeal has been lodged by Ciaran Lynam and Anne Loughlin of Drumcondra Park, Drumcondra.
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The bulk of the joint appeal submission, when the case was before DCC, concerned the lack of information provided by the applicants in relation to their obligations to provide social housing under Part V of the Planning & Development Act.
They pointed to what they saw as omissions in the council planning file on the applicant’s Part V obligations. They asked that “this information is requested by way of a ‘Further Information’ request, before the application is considered further”.
DCC does not make costings concerning applicants’ Part V agreements publicly available on its planning applications. However, this information is available at the applicant’s dedicated website for the proposed apartment scheme.
Mr Lynam and Ms Loughlin said that the Part V units identified by the applicant within Blocks A2 and A3 are “located in the most congested area of the development, with limited open space, within the northern corner of the subject site”.
In the planning documentation lodged with the application, Hines put an indicative price tag of €64.57 million on 113 apartments and studios it is planning to sell for social housing to DCC.
Indicative prices range from €717,843 for the two-bed units, €569,892 for one-bedroom units and €360,266 for studios.
The council planning report recommending that planning permission be granted strongly endorsed the scheme.
The planning report said “the site provides a significant opportunity to provide high-quality residential development at a sustainable density within walking distance of a key urban village in the city”. It added that “the planning authority fully supports the residential development of this site”.
A decision is due on the appeal in early 2026.
