The rush to provide residential accommodation for the fast- growing student population in Dublin will be given a further boost shortly when a high profile site with planning permission for a major housing scheme is offered for sale beside the Point Village in the north Dublin docklands.
DTZ Sherry FitzGerald is to guide €18 million for the 2.38 acres (0.96 of a hectare) next to the Luas station and the Gibson Hotel with planning consent for 935 student bed spaces.
Declan McDonald of receiver PWC is handling the sale on behalf of Wintertide Ltd and two adjoining land owners, Nama and CIÉ.
The high-spec scheme, designed by TP Bennett Architects, an internationally renowned specialist in student accommodation, will include two separate seven-storey blocks with a carefully designed mix of student "clusters" containing between three and eight bed spaces as well as twin and single study units. Close by, beside the 3 Arena development, work is to start on the 17-storey, €80 million Exo office block which is expected to accommodate more than 2,000 workers.
One of the two blocks with student accommodation will accommodate 589 bed spaces while the other building will have 346 bed spaces as well as 866sq m (9,322sq ft) of commercial retail floor space designed to attract interest from retailers and café and restaurant operators. There will also be 462sq m (4,973sq ft) of floor space set aside for “enterprise and community use”.
New street
Donal Kellegher of DTZ said the proposed student accommodation would benefit from a new street currently under construction between North Wall Quay and Sheriff Street. In addition a planned pedestrianised bridge linking North Wall Quay and Sir John Rogerson Quay in the south docklands would also improve accessibility.
The Point student accommodation will be conveniently located within short commuting distances of National College of Ireland, Trinity College, Dublin Institute of Technology and numerous private colleges.
The Higher Education Authority says Dublin universities provide on-campus accommodation for only 6,000 of the 79,000 student population. The authority has predicted that third-level student numbers in Ireland are likely to increase from 168,000 in 2014 to 193,000 in 2024, underlining the urgent need for further purpose-built student accommodation in the city.
The provision of additional student accommodation in Dublin is expected to ease the effects of the housing shortage and lead to a reduction in the rent levels generally in the city.
Kellegher said the provision of the high quality student accommodation in Point Village would enhance the vibrancy of the Dublin docklands and make it an even more attractive place in which to live, work, invest and do business.
