Plans for even more apartments on RTÉ site

CAIRN Homes plans to build more apartments than originally indicated at RTÉ’s Montrose site.

The developer has lodged planning documentation with An Bord Pleanála signalling its intention to build 619 apartments and three townhouses on the site it purchased from RTÉ for €107.5m in 2017.

The number of units planned is 113 – or 22pc – higher than the original 500 apartments and nine homes Cairn initially indicated it would construct on the 8.64acre site.

It is even higher than the 550-600 units that Cairn told investors last month it would build on the site which was sold at 43pc above the guide price of €75m.

An Bord Pleanála is describing the Cairn plans as ‘614 no. apartments, three townhouses, two cafes, a childcare facility, the change of use of Mount Errol from commercial office use to private residents member’s club and associated site works’.

The planning documentation lodged by the building firm starts a nine-week long pre-planning consultation with An Bord Pleanála.

The consultation will involve Dublin City Council planners and at the end of the consultation, An Bord Pleanála will provide an ‘opinion’ on the development.

It is then open to Cairn Homes to take into account the views expressed by An Bord Pleanála before lodging an application directly to An Bord Pleanála under recently introduced Government fast-track planning rules.

The new Strategic Housing Development rules allow developers to bypass local authorities and have their applications decided by the appeals board.