A development company linked to the co-owners of the Press Up Hospitality Group is making a fresh bid to secure planning permission for almost 500 apartments in the south Dublin suburb of Blackrock.
Oval Target, whose directors include Paddy McKillen Junior and Matthew Ryan of the Press Up pub and restaurant group, have applied to An Bord Pleanála to construct a €182 million apartment scheme of 493 units on a site previously owned by a religious order at Temple Hill, Blackrock, Co Dublin.
A previous attempt to secure planning permission for the project on the site of St Teresa’s House and St Teresa’s Lodge – two protected structures which were previously owned by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul – was quashed by order of the High Court two years ago.
An Bord Pleanála had granted planning permission for an identical project of 493 apartments in April 2022, although it ruled that one block containing 41 units should be omitted.
In October 2022, however, the board conceded to a judicial review taken by a group of Blackrock residents in the High Court on grounds which alleged a conflict of interest in the decision on the part of its former deputy chairperson, Paul Hyde.
They claimed that Mr Hyde, who chaired the panel to grant planning permission for the project, should not have been involved in the decision as he had a brother who was a partner in an engineering consultancy that conducted the assessment on fire safety and access for the developer.
The company had also previously secured planning permission for 294 apartments and creche on the same site in 2019, despite some local opposition
In its latest application, Oval Target has again sought planning permission from An Bord Pleanála under the fast-track process for strategic housing developments.
The company is seeking to build 493 apartments across 11 blocks ranging from two to 10 storeys in height as well as a creche and café.
The proposed development consists of 220 one-bed apartments, 208 two-bed apartments as well as 47 three-bed apartments and 18 studio units.
The plans provide for the conversion of St Teresa’s House into six apartments and the relocation of the Gate Lodge to a different part of the site for use as a café.
In planning files, consultants for the developer claim the 3.9-hectare site is intensively serviced by public transport which made it “an ideal site for increased residential density and height in line with national policy.”
They state the vision for the project is “to create a unique sense of place with a strong community identity” while integrating St Teresa’s House as a prominent focal point set within formal gardens within the development.
Oval Target said many aspects of the smaller development for which planning permission was granted in 2019 are replicated in the current application.
The company has placed a provision price tag of almost €20 million on the sale of 50 apartments contained within one block to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council under its Part V social housing obligations.
It translates as €352,292 for a one-bed apartment, €483,978 for a large two-bed apartment and €512,747 for three-bed units.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council had previously recommended that the company’s original application to develop 493 units should be refused planning permission on several grounds, including that it represented overdevelopment of the site and its negative impact on other properties in the area.
The lands were sold by the Daughters of Charity in September 2017 for €30 million.
A ruling on Oval Target’s application by An Bord Pleanála is due by mid-November.
