Limerick likely to get one of Ireland's tallest buildings in the form of 15 storey office block
The building will house offices and luxury apartments.
A DEVELOPMENT IN Limerick that will likely be one of Ireland’s tallest storeyed buildings once completed has just been given the green light.
A 15-storey mixed-use office block, which would also include for several luxury apartments and commercial space, is set to be built at Bishop’s Quay, Lower Cecil Street and Henry Street.
The block will be built at the site of the former ESB offices and old Bord na gCon headquarters.
Conditional planning permission for the scheme was granted last week to Kirkland Investments, a company headed up by 29-year-old Rudi Butler, the son of property developer Robert Butler.
Robert Butler is one of Limerick’s best-known developers. His company, Robert Butler Group, lost a large chunk of its property empire when control of many of its loans were passed to the state’s ‘bad bank’, Nama.
The development was first reported by the Limerick Leader in August and the approval of planning permission was reported in its sister publication, the Limerick Chronicle.
Jobs
According to the Limerick Leader, the project could bring 100 construction jobs initially, as well as multiple more permanent roles once completed.
The project will be located on Limerick's waterfront
It is estimated that the project will cost €40 million to develop. Rudi Butler told the Limerick Leader in August that he was hopeful of work starting on the project in January.
However, he later told the paper that this timeline was put in doubt after a local from the neighbouring Riverfront complex objected to the project.
The resident claimed that the development would “hugely negative impact on the value of my property and standard of living.”
“The structure shall be overlooking my dwelling looking directly into my kitchen, living room and bedroom, also onto my private balcony, resulting in loss of privacy and a loss of my ability to use the full amenity of my private balcony and living spaces,” he said.
It now looks more likely that construction on the project will start in March after Limerick City and County council decided to grant permission for the project in the days leading up to Christmas.
15 storeys
In its decision, the body gave permission for the construction of a commercial building “comprising 15-storeys over two basement levels fronting Lower Cecil Street and Bishop’s Quay, and comprising 4-storeys fronting Henry Street, to provide 14,325 sq m of office floor space overall and two café/restaurant units”.
It also gave permission for “construction of a residential building comprising seven storeys over two basement levels fronting Bishop’s Quay to provide 35 apartments”.
If it goes ahead as planned, the block would likely be one of the tallest storeyed buildings in the Republic of Ireland.
The Elysian in Cork, the tallest building in the Republic, is 17 storeys while Limerick’s Riverpoint building, the country’s fourth-tallest storeyed building, has 13 floors of offices and apartments.
