Sean Dunne’s Mountbrook group have proposed building 16 apartments at 7 Church Avenue in response to the requirement to provide a percentage of Social and Affordable homes, under ‘Part V’, to coincide with his proposed re-development of the Berkeley Court and Jury’s hotel site in Ballsbridge.

Sean Dunne said that it would be financially unfeasible to have Social and Affordable units on the Ballsbridge site as maintenance charges and concierge fees would be prohibitive. Mr Dunne hopes that his proposal for Church Avenue will enhance his prospects for approval from the City Council.

However, both Chris Andrews TD of Fianna Fáil and Lucinda Creighton TD of Fine Gael have made objections to Dublin City Council along with Councillors John Kenny of the Progressive Democrats and Pat McCartan also of Fine Gael.

In her objection to the housing at Church Avenue, Lucinda Creighton TD said that the Church Avenue proposals were not in the interests of proper planning and sustainable development of the area. She stated that she objected to the scheme as it would overlook and overshadow the houses and gardens of neighbouring properties as well as causing additional traffic.

Chris Andrews TD complained that the buildings proposed at Church Avenue would be out of scale with existing buildings in the area, that it would diminish residential amenities, and would set a bad precedent for the conservation of urban villages, especially as the surrounding area consists of one and two storey family residences and also that there was no vehicular access proposed for the site.

On Monday 11th February Sean Dunne held a seminar with representatives of community action groups from Ringsend and Irishtown, including the Spellman Centre, Clana Gael Fontenoy GAA and Ringsend Community Centre to present proposals of community gain with the provision of a new community centre (above) on the site of the existing centre at Thorncastle Street with accommodation for a sports hall, a créche for 100 children, day care centre, youth clubs, offices for health and other services.

The Ballsbridge development of the seven-acre site proposes a 37 storey tower standing 132 metres positioned at the corner of the existing Jury’s Hotel with a cultural quarter at its base. Sean Dunne purchased the site of the two hotels for €54 million per acre.

The plans are for a mixed-use development with 532 family size apartments, an underground mall, an embassy complex that can accommodate some of the 29 embassies currently in Ballsbridge, an office block, 232 bedroom hotel, an ice rink, a seven day a week créche for 150 children where 30 of the places will be provided at a subsidised rate.

The cultural element of the scheme is to have public art spaces, cinema, artist-run subsidised galleries for commissioning and selling art work, an Irish Centre for Contemporary Art, a Centre for European Culture, theatre, a jazz venue, a fitness centre and bookshops totalling some 60,000 sq feet.

Mountbrook contends that the opening up of the new streetscape between the proposed buildings in Ballsbridge will be a gain for the community.

Henning Larsen Architects, based in Copenhagen, are responsible for the design and have attempted to build with as much environmental sustainability as can be managed for a high-rise development, including the recycling of materials from demolition, a biomass boiler and district heating and cooling, solar heating and sourcing of electricity from Airtricity.

Lansdowne Road is to be re-landscaped (see below) involving the widening of footpaths replacement paving, new lighting, tree felling and replacement planting. A new pedestrian bridge is also proposed across the Dodder River behind the old Swastika Laundry at the back of the Oval development, which has recently been completed.

Mountbrook has also entered into discussions with Mount Tabor Housing Association regarding a possible re-development of the sheltered housing at Margaretholme on Claremont Road Sandymount with a view to increasing the number of residential units up to 90, an increase of 52, with a new community hall.