Three large vacant sites totalling more than 30 hectares have been advertised by Dublin City Council for its first major housing development programme since the property crash.
The council is seeking expressions of interest from venture capitalists, financiers, investors, housing providers, developers, builders or consortiums of the above to enter into discussions on providing private and public housing on council owned land.
Interested parties have until this Friday to apply to take part in discussions with the council in relation to the development of the sites at Santry, Darndale and Cherry Orchard.
An estimated 1,500 houses and apartments could be built in what will be the council’s first major collaboration with private housing providers since the collapse of the public-private partnership (PPP) schemes almost seven years ago.
Social housing
Under these schemes the council supplied the land and a developer built social and private housing. The schemes relied on the sale of private housing to fund the construction of social housing.
While the new model is still being devised, the council has indicated that housing would remain in the rental market. The discussions with interested parties will also help to establish development options.
However, unlike traditional social housing complexes, the developments will provide housing for both social and private tenants.
“The primary use will be residential together with retail and other commercial uses where appropriate,” the council said.
“The residential elements shall result in a high quality development of mixed tenure managed private and public housing, of various types reflecting the density needs and characteristics of the location.”
The council had originally identified five plots of land around the city that had the potential to be brought to market. However, it has not advertised the smallest two sites, a 0.7-hectare site on Kylemore Road in Ballyfermot and a 0.47-hectare site on Bunratty Road in Coolock. Instead, it is concentrating on the three largest which have the potential to provide the most homes.
The largest of these is a 16-hectare site at the Santry end of Oscar Traynor Road just to the east of the entrance to the Dublin port tunnel.
This plot is likely to be of particular interest to developers given its location in a settled residential area close to Beaumont Hospital and just off the M1. It is thought this site could provide more than 700 homes.
Next largest is an 8.2-hectare site near Cherry Orchard Hospital, which could accommodate400 houses and apartments. The site is to the west of Ballyfermot and east of Cloverhill Prison, but is inside the M50.
Illegal
The third site is a 6.3-hectare plot at the junction of the Malahide Road and Belcamp Lane, earmarked for residential development as part of the Clongriffin and Belmayne local area plan.
It could have 300 homes, but is adjacent to city council land which has been illegally occupied by Traveller families for some years. The council said it had made offers of alternative accommodation to the families, but they had not been accepted.
