Dublin City Council has given the green light to plans for the refurbishment and extension of Phibsborough Tower and its change of use to become a nine-storey 150-bedroom hotel.
The development by Stormborn Capital Acquisition Three Limited also includes a purpose-built student accommodation block over five to nine storeys, providing 411 bedspaces.
The overall scheme involves the regeneration of Phibsborough Shopping Centre, Phibsborough Road, and No’s 345-349 North Circular Road, Dublin 7, and adjacent lands.
The council concluded that “the enhanced mix-use redevelopment, along with the redeveloped Dalymount Stadium will also help serve the needs of the surrounding catchment, providing a range of retail, commercial, cultural, social and community functions that are easily accessible by foot, bicycle or public transport in line with the concept of the 15-minute city”.
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Stormborn Capital Acquisition Three Limited is part of the Dublin-based property group, Twinlite, which purchased the Phibsborough Shopping Centre last September.
The proposed development comprises three blocks, the third of which will be a four storey building incorporating residential and retail/restaurant uses.
A 61-page council planner’s report which recommended granting permission said the new residents – the student population and hotel visitors – would add footfall to the local commercial streetscape and the key urban village area in general, adding to the vitality and viability of the area.
Underlining the scale of the scheme, the council is requiring the developers to pay a combined €3.09 million in planning contributions towards public infrastructure and the Luas Cross City Scheme.
In a submission on behalf of local community arts group, Phizzfest CLG, Marian Fitzpatrick told the council the proposal “represents a significant opportunity to revitalise a site that has suffered from decades of neglect and underinvestment at the heart of Phibsborough”.
A cover letter from JSA Planning, on behalf of the applicants, said a key component of the proposal was the delivery of “a significant public realm strategy, including a new civic plaza and pedestrian route linking Phibsborough Road and North Circular Road, which will also serve as a primary arrival space for the soon to be redeveloped Dalymount Park”.
