Stephen’s Green plans on ice after uproar at complete renovation
Appeal over facelift for iconic shopping centre
CONTENTIOUS plans for the €100million redevelopment of the landmark and ‘outdated’ Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre have been stalled.
It follows the former environment editor at The Irish Times, Frank McDonald, lodging an appeal to An Bord Pleanála against Dublin City Council granting permission to Davy entity DTDL Ltd for the scheme.
An Bord Pleanála confirmed yesterday that Mr McDonald’s appeal is the only one in the case, though other objectors have until tomorrow to lodge third-party appeals.
Last month, the council granted planning permission after the applicants, DTDL Ltd, reduced the scale and structure of the scheme.
The Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre was first opened in 1988. The Davy entity got the green light for a redevelopment after paying a reported €175million for the centre in 2019.
In a submission to the council, Mr McDonald told the planning authority: ‘What is now proposed is an overscaled office development with retail and food & beverage uses on its two lower levels – including some space for art – along with a cinema in the basement and a restaurant on the fourth floor overlooking St Stephen’s Green.’
Mr McDonald stated that the view from within St Stephen’s Green ‘would be radically changed, and I emphatically do not believe that this is a price worth paying’.
In response to the original proposal before the applicants lodged revised plans, Mr McDonald told the council in an earlier submission that he was ‘aghast at the arrogance of the applicants in this case proposing three additional floors of offices on top of an architecturally generic replacement of the shopping centre itself’.
He said: ‘It is deeply regrettable that the applicant rejected suggestions by Dublin City Council’s planners that residential should provide part of the mix of uses.
‘There is a serious shortage of apartments in the city centre that contributes to the housing crisis, whereas central Dublin is awash with office developments at a time when demand for office space – particularly the tech sector – is slackening markedly.’
In recommending a grant of permission, a 51-page council planner’s report concluded that ‘the proposed reductions to the scale and massing of the building significantly reduces the visual impact on this sensitive environment’.
The revisions included an increased set-back at sixthfloor level, which the planners say reduces the appearance of the scheme by one storey.
They argue the overall scheme accords with Dublin City Council’s height strategy.
The planner’s report acknowledged the existing centre is a local landmark, but said this was not due to the quality of its architecture and that it is not a protected structure.
The developers are proposing a cinema and gallery space and the planner’s report states that these cultural uses will further generate activity. The original scheme lodged in December 2022 comprised a total gross floor area of 87,932 sq metres, an increase of 21,419 sq metres on the existing structure.
The largest component of the new scheme is office use, providing for 35,043 sq metres of offices and ancillary spaces.
A design statement drawn up by BKD Architects stated that since opening in 1988, the Stephen’s Green Centre has faced difficulties in attracting sustainable retailers.
The report said this was a result of most unit sizes being too small, and that smaller shop units – particularly those at the upper levels – trade poorly and can operate only on short-term leases.
Now, as part of the plan, the scheme is to reconfigure the street-level retail mall to allow for larger and enhancedquality shops, with a partial retail level at the first floor and commercial office uses in the upper floors.
The applicants are also proposing to introduce a new café/ restaurant/bar zone linking the mall to the street.
The planning consultants for the scheme, John Spain & Associates, told the council the existing building ‘has become outdated’ and the proposal seeks to enhance a highquality shopping centre and office facility on a central site.
‘Not a protected structure’