A NEW PLANNING application has been filed to Dublin City Council seeking approval for nearly 700 apartments on land formerly owned by RTÉ at Montrose in Dublin.

A total of 690 apartments have been proposed by developer Cairn Homes Montrose Limited, the bulk of which are made up of build-to-rent units as part of a mixed scheme.

In total, 416 apartments will be build-to-rent units while another 274 will be apartments sold on the private market.

A planning application was filed to Dublin City Council on 9 March, following a previous application that was quashed by the High Court in early 2021.

The apartments will be located across ten separate blocks, ranging between three and 16 storeys tall. The 16-storey building would be 54.9 metres tall, while the three-storey block would be just 11.9 metres tall.

The development also includes a large hotel located within the 16-storey block, with 202 rooms proposed by the developer.

A total of 17 ‘age friendly’ units are also included in the proposal, while the Mount Errol House building would be changed from commercial offices to a restaurant and a coffee shop.

The stable building beside Mount Errol House would also be refurbished and converted into an artisan food shop.

Under the plans, the former Fair City set as well as the former RTÉ Sports and Social Club would be demolished, along with extensions to the Mount Errol building and a security hut.

Previous applications to build on the former RTÉ land were quashed by the High Court after An Bord Pleanála initially approved the plans in September 2020.

The former development sought to build 614 residential units on the land across nine blocks, which is smaller than the new proposed development.

The plans were quashed after three residents of the nearby Ailesbury Road took a case with the High Court to challenge the fast-tracked application as well as the constitutionality of provisions within the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016.

The land was originally sold to Cairn Homes in 2017 for over €100 million, giving them 8.64-acres to work with on the Donnybrook site.

The new application is going through the Large Scale Residential Development process, which are for developments of either 100 houses or more or student accommodation with at least 200 bed spaces.

Under the current Draft Dublin Development Plan 2022 – 2028, any large development that is primarily Build to Rent are likely to be denied planning permission.

The draft plan is seeking for all large-scale build-to-rent developments to have at least 40% of the properties as build-to-sell.