Real estate investment company, Kennedy Wilson, has re-applied for planning permission to An Bord Pleanala (ABP) for the construction of 232 apartments on the current site of Leisureplex Stillorgan.
Earlier this year, Kennedy Wilson, who purchased the site for €15m in 2016, filed for permission to demolish Leisureplex and develop the site. However, ABP decided that amendments to the plans were needed prior to permission being granted.
The development will be fully comprised of build-to-rent units consisting of 109 two-bedroom apartments, 113 one-bedroom apartments and 10 studio apartments.
The build will also accommodate two retail units and four restaurant/café spaces.
Original plans for the development outlined apartment blocks ranging from six storeys to nine storeys in height but this has since been reduced, as per the recommendation of the planning board, to between five and eight storeys in height.
At the time of Kennedy Wilson’s first application for permission, local councillors said that the development of the site was inevitable, as the recent Stillorgan Local Area Plan called for its re-development.
Local Independent councillor and Leas Cathaoirleach Deirdre Donnelly says she is disappointed that the development will consist of build-to-rent residential units.
“I accept that there is a need to build more houses and apartments but am not necessarily always in favour of build to rent schemes,” she says.
“I don’t believe that these schemes actually solve the housing crisis. We should be encouraging people to get on the housing ladder.
“As long as developments of this nature get planning approval the possibility of someone owning their own home is less likely.
Fine Gael councillor Barry Saul says the demolition of Leisureplex will be a loss to the community.
He says: “I’m disappointed that the new application will not include the Leisureplex.
“It has been a great leisure facility for people of all ages in Stillorgan. With the loss of Glenalbyn and now the loss of Leisureplex, there has been a large reduction in the facilities and different leisure amenities in Stillorgan.”
