A question mark has been placed over plans by US property giant Kennedy Wilson to construct a new office campus at St Stephen’s Green that would have the capacity to accommodate 3,000 office workers.
Last month, Dublin City Council gave the green light for the scheme at Stokes Place at Stephen's Green South and Harcourt Street which currently accommodates the Dublin headquarters of KPMG.
The proposal involves the demolition of the existing office complex at Stokes Place and the construction of an eight-storey office block. However, three third-party appeals have been lodged against the permission, including one from Davy Target Investments Ltd.
Kennedy Wilson has also appealed a condition in the decision that reduced the eight-storey scheme to seven storeys.
Structures
Davy Target Investments owns the neighbouring protected structures at 97-100 St Stephen’s Green and 91 Harcourt Street.
In the appeal, Davy Target Investments said it has a concern with aspects of the design and the potential adverse impacts that will arise as a result of the proposed development.
The property owner has requested the board to put in place design revisions to resolve the negative impacts the proposed scheme will have on its property.
A management company for 18 owners of apartments of the adjacent Russell Court Apartments, Padamul Ltd, has also appealed.
In the appeal, Padamul director, Maurice McCarron said “all residents will be adversely affected by the proposed development”.
“Our lives are to be changed utterly . . . the scale of the proposed development will overwhelm our access to sunlight, daylight, fresh air and radically reduce our enjoyment of our properties, ” he said. “We will be forced to spend more of our time living under artificial lighting conditions through no fault of our own which is just not fair,” he added.
Mr McCarron also pointed out “we could not have expected a building of such an overwhelming scale to be granted planning permission to the great detriment of our neighbourhood and our way of life”.
A property owner at Russell Court Apartments, Olive English, has lodged a separate appeal where she calls on the appeals board to refuse planning permission.
In the Kennedy Wilson appeal, Stephen Little & Associates said the condition that a storey be removed was “unjustified and unnecessary”.
The appeal said that the removal of the floor woul have minimal, if any, impact on the visual impact to the surrounding area.
A decision is due on the appeals in February of next year.
