urbanisto
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It does seem sensible…although isnt this what the Minister for Finance is supposed to be doing. I cant see Biffo letting someone else take the limelight from him.
Despite garethace’s theory on pedestrainisation I remain a firm believer in the idea that a better environment for pedestrians and the removal of cars from the centre of the city is the best way forward. Despite the constant ‘nightmare’ stories public transport into the city is not that bad. And regardless of the charms (!) of out of town centres like Dundrum and Blanchardstwon the city centre is still the best place to shop and be entertained.
And from yesterday’s IT:
Habitat’s new ‘store on Suffolk Street opens
Edel MorganRetail: Habitat is to open the doors of its new store at the former Bank of Ireland beside Avoca Handweavers on Suffolk Street, Dublin 2 by Friday.
Its former premises at 7 St Stephen’s Green will be occupied by UK fashion stores Top Shop and Top Man, owned by UK fashion chain Arcadia.
Habitat Ireland’s owner and managing director Malcolm Brighton describes the €2.5 million fit- out of the store as “brass meets glass”.The building, which has entrances on Suffolk Street and College Green, is composed of two different structures, a large 19th century double height banking hall fronting onto College Green and a 1960s building that has been enlarged.
“It will be a meeting of old and new. The modern half will be architectural and quite urban, a big open space. The old part which has a dome will have all the decorative items, the vases and home furnishings and accessories. We will be retaining the original features of banking hall, and marrying it with a raw urban feel in the new part”
There will also be a Relax Café on the mezzanine level overlooking College Green, a restaurant and patisserie. Vintage furniture retailer 20th Century Design will have a concession and customers will be able to have one-off pieces made by Irish furniture designer Charles O’Toole.
Habitat is paying a rent of around €1.2 million for the old bank building which has three levels and a total floor area of 3,344sq m (35,999sq ft).
The owners of the store, White Glory, a consortium led by the owners of Powerscourt Townhouse paid around €22 million for the building .
It is believed that a rent rise – from €698,000 to €1.5 million – was one of the reasons behind the move from St Stephen’s Green store .
The opening of the store will be a further boost to Suffolk Street which has undergone a renaissance in recent years. More consumers have flocked to the street following the conversion of the Church of Ireland into the tourist information office and the opening of Avoca Handweavers. The former AA headquarters was bought by the owners of a business park at Ballymount in west Dublin for €8 million. to be converted into 3.716sq m (4,000 sq ft) of retail space.
© The Irish Times
Incredible how much the rent was going up for the old site. Its amazing how any shop can trade under those conditions. How on earth convenience stores and the new Vodaphone (directly opposite Vodeaphone and the other end of Gratfon St from Vodaphone) can afford it.
emf wrote:The ESB sub station set into the stone wall close to the large billboard is very ugly and appears to have been left unfinished! QUOTE]But unpainted galvenised steel is the new black. Everybody’s doing it!
I agree that the ‘renovation’ of the station was hopelessly unambitious. It deserved much better. I hate the ‘new’ layout and that awful cheap rendering effect. The poor design of the downstairs tunnel is dreadful. No space for retail units, no life, no activity except for the masses rushing by. The facade in particular looks dreary and grimey and as usual the maintenance has been let lapse. Even the paving and lighting outside says nothing for such a major entry point into the city. The Luas stop is fine but its missing the line of trees originally planned (and provided for). They would certainly help break all that grey granite. And is it really acceptable in 2005 for a mainline railway station to have a large billboard attached.
Yes, I noticed this a couple of weeks back. Its the first area of paving being laid. I suppose the taxi stand has to go somewhere. It would seem a bit unfair to victimise the taxi drivers seeing as everyone else is being more than generously catered for in the median – motorbikes, cyclists, street signage manufacturers, bollard makers.
Dublin centre traffic ban could aid retailers
Arthur Beesley, Senior Business CorrespondentTraffic should be banned from Westmoreland Street, one of Dublin’s main thoroughfares, in order to boost the city’s retail business in the face of growing competition from out-of-town centres, according to a report commissioned by Dublin City Council.
The report by property consultants Bannon Commercial said that the creation of pedestrian-only zone on the street would make it easier for shoppers to move between the main retail centres on Grafton Street and Henry Street.
Bannon listed the recommendation among a second strand of measures which should follow an initial series of efforts to stimulate the retail trade in the city centre.
Dublin City Council has already adopted some of the first phase measures, including efforts to encourage developers to make “larger floorplate” units available on Grafton Street and surrounding streets. The council also wants to see more leisure and night-time activities available in the Henry Street.
The report was commissioned last year, amid increasing concern about the quality of retailers now on Grafton Street and concern that a major portion of the money spent by city centre shoppers was “leaking” to other retail locations.
It said recent changes in Dublin’s traffic management had substantially reduced the traffic on Westmoreland Street, noting that its dimensions create the opportunity for a large scale public space between the two retail main retail zones.
“Removing all the traffic from Westmoreland Street will open up substantial redevelopment opportunities on the eastern side of the street where a number of large scale potential development plots are currently in office use.”
Dublin city manager John Fitzgerald said this recommendation was “aspirational”, but added that the council would be considering the future use of Westmoreland Street once its efforts to boost Grafton Street and Henry Street were further advanced. “It would be much too early to suggest that that’s going to be the logical outcome of it,” he said.
The discussion would depend on traffic issues, the likely footfall on the street and the location of the linkage between the two Luas lines. A Government decision on this point is likely in the autumn.
One possibility under consideration is that the Sandyford Luas line would join O’Connell Street from St Stephen’s Green, via Westmoreland Street. If adopted, this proposal would have a major impact on traffic levels on the street and the scope to increase pedestrian access.
The report does not mention the Luas, but makes clear the challenge facing retailers in the city and the “opportunity” to redress the balance.
“From a position of limited competition before the development of the the Square in Tallaght in 1990, Dublin city centre now represents less than half of the significant retail offer in the Dublin area,” it said.
“A key goal of the growth of the city in the longer term must be to reinforce the linkage across the city. Re-invigorated shopping zones north and south of the city, if combined to a single shopping trip, will prove very difficult for any other shopping proposal to match.” Bannon said the council should remove retail services from the list of normally permitted uses on the two main shopping streets.
Mr Fitzgerald said the council was reluctant to intervene in the market but said such action may be justified. “If there’s a demonstrative requirement to intervene in the market through the planning process, then I think it’s the job of local government to do that to whatever extent we can.”
© The Irish Times
QED I would have thought? I wonder what sort of strategy will come out of all this deliberating by the CC.
Lost in the planning process! Held up by individuals who are ‘effectively stealing from the taxpayer’. Unlike the Minister for Transport who was able to find all that money to flood Waterford with free park and ride services for the Tall Ships Festival. I wonder who the TD for Waterford is….Im sure its on the tip of my tongue.
I read reports (possibly on another thread) which stated that staff were unhappy moving into a ‘modrin’ open plan style office. All those grades having to share the same space…ugggh.
Can be seen on previous thread Post No16
https://archiseek.com/content/showthread.php?t=3440&page=1&pp=25&highlight=Ormond+Hotel
The lines could still run together at Beresford Place at the end of Abbey St with minimal fuss. Destorying the top of OC St with a luas terminus would be criminal.
Once the RPA ‘agrees’ its route does the City Council have any input? Or is it straight to ABP?Walking past the site on Saturday I noticed a sign indicating DCC will be permanently extinguishing the right of way around this site. I presume this means the right of traffic. If this is the case and a pedestrianised area is to be created it will be great news. It will give an opportunity for the retail units opposite to be upgraded or reconverted into restaurant use, just as John Fitzgerald was calling for recently. The plans were on display at the DCC Sheriff St offices – did anyone hear any more.
In fairness An Taisce objected to the demolition of this hotel as part of the planning process but lost. I think its an incredibly bad decision but then again the Quays are littered with incredibly bad planning decisions. The exisiting building, or the facade at least is a fine building which could easily accommodate a sensitive addition above. The new building is incredibly bad… It is worth noting that the CC have requested a redesign of the new Blooms hotel in Temple Bar because it feel its appropriate to retain its older facade, The original submission for Blooms was very similar to the Ormond.
“via Kildare Street and Exchequer Street over a new bridge across the Liffey between Capel Street and Butt Bridge.” Que?
Some of these routes seen to be really bizarre and totally unfeasible. Is this the intention I wonder. For example there is no way that DCC could allow a Luas line to go down part of Georges St. Its a vital route out of the city.
I am amazed that there is not even a mention of sending the line through Trinity (expensive and divisive but with some proper planning might actually be a good idea) or Merrion Sq, Westland Row, Pearse, Tara St and passing over Matt Talbot Bridge and terminating at the white elephant station the RPA built at Connolly. After all what is this stop going to do once the Docklands extension is completed. This route would also have the added effect of linking the Luas with three DART stations. “Integration” and all that.And I agree what happened to the figure of 8 scheme.
What gobshites!
As for the idiots buying overpriced houses in Santry in expectation of their shiny new LUAS line.
