The Land Development Agency (LDA) has announced the purchase of a site on Dublin’s Naas Road with the potential to deliver over 1,200 cost rental homes.
The Agency has reached an agreement with the owners to purchase the 3.79-hectare Royal Liver site.
The purchase follows an independent valuation process and is part of the LDA’s private land acquisition initiative.
The Royal Liver site is located next to the Red Luas line and close to the Grand Canal at the junction of Naas Road and Kylemore Road. There is existing planning permission for housing development on the land, with an initial first phase delivering at least 465 new homes.
The site is located at the heart of the planned City Edge redevelopment and near to two other affordable, cost rental and social developments being delivered by the LDA in partnership with Dublin City Council at Bluebell and Cherry Orchard Point.
The City Edge area has been identified as having the potential for regeneration with a vision to develop a well-connected and dynamic new urban quarter. It seeks to provide more housing, community facilities and amenities such as parks, greenways and sports pitches alongside existing and new commercial and industrial premises. Working closely with Dublin City Council, the LDA is playing an active role in ensuring the delivery of affordable housing as part of the housing mix in the City Edge area.
In 2023, the Agency announced its intention to buy well-located development sites in key cities with existing services, the potential for high numbers of homes and ideally with existing planning permission.
It sought and subsequently received expressions of interest from landowners, which it has been actively assessing and evaluating.
In December 2023, the Agency made its first purchase as part of the initiative when it paid €44 million for land in Clongriffin in north Dublin with existing planning permission for over 1,800 homes and the potential to deliver a total of over 2,300 affordable and social homes.
John Coleman, Chief Executive of the Land Development Agency said:
“This is another major development for the LDA as we continue to deliver the right type of housing in the right place. This site is superbly located in a part of Dublin that can accommodate and benefit from more housing, new services, amenities and ultimately new communities. We are excited to have closed this deal at a price that will allow us to deliver a high number of well-served and much-needed cost rental apartments and we now look forward to getting construction underway.
“We are acutely aware of the regeneration plans for the City Edge quarter of Dublin and we are working closely with Dublin City Council to help kick start and provide a stimulus for new housing in the area. There is a compelling case for the development of new apartments alongside existing rail and Luas services and the LDA is playing a significant role in delivering such projects. Working with Dublin City Council, we are already active in this area, with our joint plans for Bluebell Waterways and Cherry Orchard Point.
“Our private land acquisition initiative has proved to be an effective way of adding to the LDA’s land bank and our housing delivery pipeline. It is expected that further purchases will be completed if prices are right and we are continuing to examine and evaluate expressions of interest as we receive them.”
The LDA is the State’s affordable housing delivery body. It is in the process of delivering more than 19,000 homes on State-owned or acquired land and over 8,000 through homebuilder partnerships as part of the Government’s Project Tosaigh initiative.
As the State’s affordable housing delivery body, the Land Development Agency has two broad strategic aims - strategic land assembly and housing delivery. The LDA works with public bodies to identify land suitable for the delivery of large scale housing developments, in the immediate, medium and long term, including complex strategic parcels of land owned by the State.
In addition, the LDA has identified a need and opportunity to purchase land from private landowners to supplement its State Lands programme and to help accelerate its objectives in delivering affordable housing in the short term. This ongoing land acquisition programme will support and supplement the LDA’s objective of increasing its annual output of homes through direct delivery mechanisms.
The Land Development Agency (LDA), in partnership with Dublin City Council (DCC), is working towards a planning application for Bluebell Waterways - a strategic 2.8-hectare site at the heart of the Dublin 12 community, which has been identified for regeneration by DCC.
The unique site boasts excellent transport links across the city and frontage along the Grand Canal; close proximity to the Luas Red Line; schools; and local community facilities in the area. It is the intention of the LDA, in partnership with DCC, to propose a high-quality, sustainable residential development at Bluebell Waterways comprising 400 new social and cost rental homes, as well as integrating existing and new community, cultural and arts spaces.
The Land Development Agency (LDA), in partnership with Dublin City Council (DCC) as landowners, is progressing plans for the development of lands beside Park West Avenue and the Park West Cherry Orchard Railway Station in Dublin 10. The plans focus on the development of a new, large, mixed-use residential development with public amenity, community, retail and commercial uses. Cherry Orchard Point is the working title for this development project.
An Bord Pleanála has granted permission for over 700 cost rental and social homes in Phase 1 of the development. A planning application for Phase 2, which includes 137 Affordable Purchase homes, will be submitted shortly.