Westgate Project Gets Go-ahead
Con Power, Irish Independent, Friday 20th February 2004

The €500m “Westgate” urban renewal project beside Heuston Station in Dublin has been given the planning green light. The development providing a new western gateway to the capital at St John’s Road/Military Road will be the biggest project outside the Docklands.

The proposed development is part of Minster of State Tom Parlon’s initiative to transform state assets and to fully utilize or extract maximum value from under-utilized State land.

As a result of the favorable planning decision, the State will receive a multiple of what it would have received if the site had been sold without planning approval.

A joint venture involving the Office of Public Works and Eircom, it will comprise 140,000 sq m of office, residential, cultural and recreational space.

The residential element of this project features 320 high specification family-sized apartments. Social and affordable housing will be included.

The new complex will be home to 1,500 people who will have access to the nearby Phoenix Park and directly into Heuston Station by a proposed new elevated roadway.

The office/technology element will amount to almost 28,000 sq m, providing work space to some 3,000 people. Provision has also been made for extra gallery space at the Irish Museum of Modern Art.

Dublin City Council has now given Planning Permission for Phase One of the development on a 9.5 acre site alongside the Eastern Health Board offices.

“I am delighted with the Council’s decision to grant Planning Permission for this very significant development here in the Capital City,” Minster Parlon said.

“Westgate is a flagship urban regeneration project for the State. It will transform this derelict warehouse space into a vibrant quarter containing state of the art office space, high quality living accommodation and a mix of cultural and leisure spaces to support a sustainable lifestyle in this underdeveloped part of Dublin City”.

A separate application for an adjoining 4.5 acre OPW site is still under review by Planners. This has been earmarked for an interactive Science Centre called the “Exploration Station” set to overtake Cork County Hall as the tallest building in the State.

The entire project is expected to take five years to complete. The overall site will be over 14 acres roughly twice the size of Temple Bar.