Latest news with #Marlet
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Ruling on controversial development beside St Anne's Park due after legal action withdrawn
A 10-year planning saga over the development of land beside St Anne's Park in Raheny, Dublin, could be brought to a close next month with confirmation by An Coimisiún Pleanála that it can now rule on a controversial 580 apartment and nursing home scheme. A High Court challenge taken by developer Pat Crean in relation to the validity of the Dublin City Development Plan, that had effectively blocked residential development on his land, has been dropped. Mr Crean's company Marlet hopes a recent intervention by Minister for Housing James Browne , directing councils to zone more land for housing, will result in a reversal of the 'dezoning' of the land. The withdrawal of the legal challenge against Dublin City Council, Ireland and the Attorney General, means a stay on the commission ruling on Mr Crean's housing scheme has been lifted, and it intends to deliver its decision next month, it has told the council. READ MORE The 16.5-acre site, formerly part of St Paul's College at Sybil Hill, beside the park, has become one of the most contentious land banks in Dublin since it was bought by Mr Crean in 2015. Multiple planning applications for apartments, which have been the subject of several judicial review hearings, have been made by Marlet and associated development companies. The most recent was submitted in September 2022 to the city council under the new large-scale residential development (LRD) system for 580 apartments and a 100-bed nursing home. The following month the council refused permission for the scheme due to concerns about the use of the land by light-bellied Brent geese which migrate from Canada for the winter months. The council had received more than 230 objections to Marlet's plans. Just days later, city councillors voted to block any further applications for large-scale housing developments on the site by zoning it for open space under the new Dublin City Development Plan. Mr Crean's Raheny 3 Limited Partnership in November 2022 appealed the refusal of permission for the LRD scheme to An Bord Pleanála. Then, in January 2023 it initiated a separate judicial review against the validity of the development plan. The zoning change, it said, amounted to an 'unjust and disproportionate attack' on the company's constitutionally protected property rights. A stay was put on the planning appeal, pending an outcome of the High Court challenge. However, Mr Crean's company has recently withdrawn its judicial review proceedings, which will allow An Coimisúin Pleanála, formerly An Bord Pleanála, to issue a decision on the case. In a letter to the council in recent days the commission said it intended to issue its decision by September 29th. A spokesman for Marlet said the company had withdrawn the High Court case in anticipation of 'positive changes' in relation to the zoning of land for housing in the city. In recent weeks Mr Browne issued new guidelines to local authorities telling them to zone more land for housing. It is expected councils will be asked to first focus on any land which is already serviced by infrastructure such as water and sewerage, or are close to public transport. The Raheny land, which has previously secured planning permission, would fall into this category, Marlet believes. 'The positive changes around land uses and zoning, encouraging councils to rezone lands that are serviced and where homes can be built, was a key decision why we felt these lands now have a more straightforward path to follow' than the High Court route, it said. Local Green Party councillor Donna Cooney said she welcomed the developer's decision to abandon the court challenge and anticipated the planning commission would uphold the council's decision to refuse permission for the 580 apartments and nursing home. She acknowledged the need for housing and said the 'possibility of a land swap' between the council and the developer could be considered, but she said: 'I hope that these lands will go back to their original purpose as playing fields.'
Irish Independent
29-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
US tech giant Workday earmarks $468m for Dublin HQ in 20-year lease deal
Workday confirmed last month that it had inked an agreement with M&G Real Estate and Pat Crean's Marlet Property Group to lease the entire space at the new city centre College Square development. It's being constructed on the site of the former Apollo House and is almost complete. The deal for the 416,000sqft of super-prime office space marked the single largest transaction in the sector in Europe since the pandemic. In its first quarter results released this month, Workday confirmed the amount it has set aside for the lease of the new Dublin office. Dublin's office market is poised for 'significant recovery' this year 'During the first quarter of fiscal 2026, we entered into a new operating lease agreement for our European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland which has not yet commenced, with total undiscounted lease payments of $468m,' it told investors. 'The operating lease is expected to commence in the second quarter of fiscal 2026 with a lease term of 20 years.' The lease deal was a major coup for Marlet and the broader office market. Workday had originally intended to construct its own 550,000sqft European headquarters on a site in Grangegorman in the capital. However, it abandoned that plan earlier this year, opting instead to move its staff to the development on Tara Street. Workday will move its 2,000 staff, currently at two separate locations in Dublin, to the new location. Mr Crean, who is Marlet's chief executive, described the lease agreement as a 'significant milestone' for Dublin's office market. Construction of College Square, which also features 54 apartments, is expected to be completed next month, with Workday commencing its fit-out programme soon after. Real estate firm Savills said in March that Dublin's office market is poised for 'significant recovery' this year, driven by rapidly falling vacancy rates, major corporate commitments and strong demand for prime office spaces. It said that the office vacancy rate in the Dublin 2 area is expected to fall sharply by the end of 2025, due to strong occupier interest and substantial pre-let activity. Savills said that prime office rents in Dublin's central business district have already begun to recover, having risen 4pc year-on-year to €65 per square foot in the final quarter of 2024. That's the highest figure on record.
