Irish developer Chartered Land has submitted plans to Dublin City Council for a 1.7 million sq ft (157,930 sq m) retail-led mixed-use scheme that would transform a large part of the city and attract new retailers.

Chartered Land plans to build the scheme, called Dublin Central, on the site of the former Carlton cinema.

It would cost €1.25 billion (£1 billion) to build and include 109 retail units and a department store anchor.

The plans also include 108 apartments, 376,750 sq ft (35,000 sq m) of office space and 17 restaurants and cafés, as well as two new streets for Dublin’s city centre and public squares.

Chartered Land chief executive Dominic Deeney said: “We haven’t seen a major retail development in the Henry Street area since 1996, yet since 1989 there’s been 2.5 million sq ft of development within the M50. It’s important that Dublin city centre re-establishes itself as the premier retail destination in Ireland.”

The planning application is the culmination of four years preparation, because there has been no Compulsory Purchase Order in place, so Chartered Land has had to acquire all the buildings on the proposed 5.5 acre (2.2 ha) site individually.

Chartered Land is in negotiations to secure an anchor tenant for the centre, which has been designed to have a department store as its focal retail point.

Architect firms Burke-Kennedy Doyle, McGarry Ni Éanaigh and Donnelly Turpin have been appointed to work together to produce the designs.

One of the scheme’s key features will be a “park in the sky” – a roof garden that will be built on top of the buildings, allowing visitors views over Dublin.

Chartered Land has appointed architect Marks Barfield, the firm behind the London Eye, to design a cable car to take visitors up to the roof garden, which it hopes will become a key landmark in Ireland.

If the application is successful, Chartered Land will hope to be on site by 2010, with the completion of the scheme planned for 2013 in preparation for the centenary celebrations of the Easter Rising in 2016.

Topics