Hines submits back-up plan for new homes on Dublin site

US real estate group Hines is to submit an application today to An Bord Pleanála for permission to develop a revised and lower-rise version of its original plan for housing on the former Bailey Gibson lands on Dublin’s South Circular Road.

Although Hines and its Dutch joint-venture partners, APG Asset Management, secured approval for the construction of 416 units on the site in September 2020, the scheme’s height and scale saw it become the subject of judicial review proceedings brought by local residents. Distributed across five blocks, the development was to have included a 16-storey building as its centrepiece.

While Mr Justice Richard Humphreys rejected the residents’ High Court challenge under Irish law, he did refer three questions relating to EU law to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for its determination. The issues refer to directives designed to ensure that development plans and regulations are subjected to environmental assessment.

With a decision yet to issue from the CJEU, Hines has now formulated what sources close to the Bailey Gibson project have described as a “backup” plan for the development. Notwithstanding the fact that the current permissions being sought for the scheme and the adjoining Player Wills site are still live, Hines is submitting a new planning application to An Bord Pleanála for the construction of 345 residential units across five buildings ranging in height from two to a maximum of seven storeys as opposed to the 16-storey block it had sought to build originally.

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The developer is also understood to have engaged in pre-planning discussions with Dublin City Council on other alternative applications relating to other elements of the Bailey Gibson/Player Wills development. The Irish Times understands that Hines will begin construction on whichever planning permission it secures first, meaning that the Bailey Gibson site could still come to accommodate the 16-storey building it secured approval for originally. The development of the taller structure will proceed as planned should the issues raised by the judicial review proceedings be resolved in Hines’ favour.

The adjoining Player Wills portion of the South Circular site meanwhile has planning in place for the construction of 732 apartments across four blocks with one building rising to a height of 19 storeys. This element of the scheme is also the subject of a judicial review, the determination of which has been stayed pending the receipt of clarification on the Bailey Gibson case by the CJEU.

The 345 residential units proposed as part of the developer’s latest application for the Bailey Gibson site comprise a mix of 33 studios, 197 one-bedroom apartments, 106 two-bedroom apartments, five three-bedroom apartments, and four four-bedroom town houses. 75 per cent of the units in the development would be Build-to-Rent (BTR) apartments while 15 per cent would be aimed towards the traditional owner-occupier market. 10 per cent of the scheme would be set aside for social housing. The site adjoins the Land Development Agency’s social and affordable housing scheme, the Donore Project.

The 13.6-acre development site includes lands owned by Hines and Dublin City Council. All the proposed housing will be built on the Hines-owned Bailey Gibson lands while the Dublin City Council-owned lands will be used to develop a multipurpose playing pitch, a public park and playground and a new street network.

The proposed scheme also provides for the development of tenant amenities including a gymnasium, co-working space, entertainment rooms, residents’ lounges, communal gardens, a childcare facility and external area large enough to serve both the immediate and wider community. Some 485 sq m of commercial floor space at ground level of the development will be allocated to the provision of retail, restaurants and cafes.