Four developments have applied for planning permission to start on some massive changes to Newmarket Square area in Dublin 8. In the beginning of July planning permission was lodged with Dublin City Council Planning for two large and one massive sites on Newmarket Square. All three of these applications have been made by Newmarket Partnership PM Ltd. (Planning references: 3321/17, 3322/17, 3323/17) A fourth site has had plans lodged in April for a substantial development, also in Newmarket Square, to be called The Brewery Block. The Brewery Block first applied for development with plans in 2004.
Finally, adding to the changes, at the back of the square two sites have work in progress with some of the buildings nearing completion. The first is on the Mill Street/Warrenmount Lane where building work is progressing on the Student Accommodation being built by BAM (planning ref 2440/16). The second is on Mill Street and Blackpitts – where work is progressing on the Aloft Hotel/Student Accommodation Site (planning ref 3475/14). The combined sites have 709 bed accommodation for students including ancillary amenities. The Aloft hotel on the Mill Street Blackpitts sites has 202 ‘loft like rooms’.
On Newmarket Square three of the planning application’s have been placed by Newmarket PartnershipPM Ltd. These three plans have a mix of uses from hotel to retail, offices, market, brewery, cafe/restaurant, artists studio, parking and delivery docks. Also on the square is the development of the student accommodation and ancillary spaces on a site being called The Brewery Block.
The Brewery Block has plans for student accommodation of 349 beds with accompanying shared work space, cafe/bar, community/study space, launderette, screening room, gym, bike storage. Some of the buildings on the site are protected and will be retained and renovated. The application states that when students are not in residence during the student holiday season the beds will used for short term lets.
The largest of the Newmarket Partnership sites is the redevelopment of the IDA Ireland lands into a 239 bed hotel, retail, office space and 92 1/2/3 bed apartments. One of the sites that has been designated for a brewery is the area that has been used by the Dublin Food Coop and the Dublin Flea. The area known as the Green Market, a few doors down, is being designated as a market/retail space.
The 92 1/2/3 bed apartments designated for the IDA site are the only long term residential units in any of the applications at this time.
The Irish Times has a comprehensive piece on the plans for the Newmarket Square hotel site that can be found here: https://www.irishtimes.com/business/commercial-property/development-plan-for-dublin-s-liberties-announced-1.3141821
Not far away on The Coombe the Hodson Bay Hotel Group from Athlone have been given permission to build a 234 bed Sheraton Hotel and the Maldron Group are building a 137 room hotel on the Kevin Street site that formally had Mira Glass.
By my calculations that means 709 student accommodation are being built with a potential 349 more bringing the total over 1058 student accommodation beds. These accommodations will act as short term lets when not housing students. Also 573 hotel beds are being built now and application is in for 239 more. All of these are within a five minute walk from St Patricks Cathedral.
Big changes for the Newmarket Square area!