€1.2bn mall scheme to transform O’Connell Street area
Developers are to lodge a planning application with Dublin City Council this week for a €1.2 billion mixed-use scheme for a 5.5 acre site centred on the former Carlton cinema on Upper O’Connell Street. Subject to planning permission being granted, the “Dublin Central” development will incorporate new streets and squares, more than 100 apartments and the same number of shops as well as a sloping public park at roof level with panoramic views over the city. The scheme by leading developers Chartered Land, whose biggest project to date has been Dundrum shopping centre, will also include a flagship department store behind the art deco facade of the Carlton, which is to be moved 50 metres farther up the street. Seventeen restaurants will occupy space at the upper tier of the shopping centre under a transparent “rainscreen” roof. From this level, there would be access to the proposed “Park in the Sky” and a funicular to the summit, 13 storeys above street level.
The Irish Times