Phibsboro redevelopment: reality, or another false dawn?

gaiscioch

Yes, the shopping centre. With 20,000 students in the new Grangegorman DIT campus in the new couple of years, and the Luas line expected to be running by the end of 2017 is there any hope that the whole Shopping Centre monstrosity/Dalymount Park saga can be resolved by a regeneration project?

This seems to be a decent summary of the most recent (summer 2015) plans for Phibsboro:

Plans for 800 new homes in Dublin suburb of Phibsborough (Irish Times, 2 June 2015):

"The old precast concrete shopping centre with its eight-storey office block still offers potential for development, but not as part of a scheme involving Dalymount.

Under the new plan, Bohemians will stay, with the council planning to buy the ground and and retain it as a sports facility.
The redevelopment of the shopping centre, as a new retail and housing complex up to 12 storeys high, would go ahead separately under the plan.

The National Asset Management Agency is expected to offer it for sale this year and its redevelopment with “higher- order” shops, apartments, and the removal of the existing surface car parking is a key objective, the council said.
The greatest potential for housing development is at the northern end of Phibsborough where it meets Glasnevin. The key residential site is the former Smurfit printworks on Botanic Road.
Phibsborough has the potential to accommodate up to 800 new homes and more than 250 of these could be built at the Smurfit site. The Department of Education wants part of the site to be reserved for a school.


Back towards the village, the area west of Cross Guns Bridge on the Royal Canal was also identified as a key development site. It includes the former Shandon Mill bakery, CIÉ land and privately owned land around Des Kelly Carpets and Hedigan’s pub.
Under the plan, this site would be developed for a mix of uses including residential, commercial, cafes and restaurants, in addition to a water- based sporting and recreational amenity.
Eventually, a new railway station could be developed at the Cross Guns site, but this would be outside the period of the plan. Mountjoy could also be developed in the future, pending a Government decision to relocate the prison, and could accommodate almost a further 1,000 homes."

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The problem is we heard about a major redevelopment 10 or 15 years ago, and many people bought then on the strength of that talk. Mountjoy was supposed to close down, the new Children's Hospital was supposed to be built on the Mater site, etc. What's the likelihood that this is another false dawn for Phibsboro? (Disclosure: a friend has a house there, they're interested in selling but a lot of people are putting store in this development even though for them it's déjà vu)

ongarboy

I think you'll have few critical jigsaw pieces in place this time that you didn't have 15 years ago. The most significant two are the DIT in Grangegorman (bringing 20000 students to the doorstep of Phibsboro) and secondly the Cross City Luas track (making Phibsboro only 10-20 minutes from O'Connell Street and Stephens Green). Sites along the Luas line or within a couple of minutes walking distance will be far more lucrative and appealing for development.

Phibsboro already has a quirky neighbourhood feel to it but is just lacking what Ranelagh and Rathmines and possibly Drumcondra already have. I think the above two factors will allow much of what is proposed in the OP to be come a reality.

Sacksian

I wouldn't buy or move based on those plans - the Luas and Grangegorman DIT are happening/have happened anyway. but, by all accounts, there is serious commitment to the current plan (as there was to the original development plan). But who knows how long that will take.

Personally, I don't think it needs massive regeneration. The shopping centre is **** because the tenants are ****. I think that situation will improve with the DIT. Also, I must be one of the few people in Dublin who actually likes the architecture of the Tower Block at the shopping centre!

But, apart from that, you've got everything on your doorstep. It's a great place to live.
It's right beside the city centre, the Phoenix Park up the road, bounded by Broadstone basin and the canal.

uck51js9zml2yt

Who are the tenants in the tower?

January

There's some kind of further education unit and a gym I think.

newacc2015

Sacksian wrote: »

I wouldn't buy or move based on those plans - the Luas and Grangegorman DIT are happening/have happened anyway. but, by all accounts, there is serious commitment to the current plan (as there was to the original development plan). But who knows how long that will take.

Personally, I don't think it needs massive regeneration. The shopping centre is **** because the tenants are ****. I think that situation will improve with the DIT. Also, I must be one of the few people in Dublin who actually likes the architecture of the Tower Block at the shopping centre!

But, apart from that, you've got everything on your doorstep. It's a great place to live.
It's right beside the city centre, the Phoenix Park up the road, bounded by Broadstone basin and the canal.

Phisboro needs a complete overhaul. There is nothing in it. Look at the junction of NCR and Phisboro road. The choice of shops is "interesting". Moore street should have gone upmarket with the celtic tiger. But it didnt and still looks like something from a third world country.

The whole shopping centre should be knocked and replaced with a high rise apartment block/shopping centre. We are going to solve the housing crisis having a one storey shopping centre with minimal parking overhead. Parking on the ground floor of the shopping centre is near impossible. The units are too small to have any decent shops.

Phisboro is the only part of the city, that has not improved in the last 10 years. Drumcondra is gorgeous and feels like Rathmines/Ranelagh. Glasnevin always looked well. But Phisboro is still a complete dump. Part of the problem is 2/3 families own most of Phisboro and cant be arsed spending money on anything ( I worked for one of them)

gaiscioch

newacc2015 wrote: »

But Phisboro is still a complete dump. Part of the problem is 2/3 families own most of Phisboro and cant be arsed spending money on anything ( I worked for one of them)

Interesting; it's like a rural town then. Google is no help yet. The Carpet Man for sure but after that...

"The scheme is anchored by Tesco Ireland and comprises 12 stores, 400 car spaces and a seven storey office tower"

A seven-story building and 400 car spaces. This seems like a massive waste of a property so close to the centre. I wonder are even half of those 400 spaces occupied, or most of the floors. I really think the monstrosity of a shopping centre is holding back the entire area. Something more lively and classy could be there.

The second property holding back the area is the concrete behemoth that the old ice rink was in - right here next to where the canal was. It's totally out of proportion to the surrounding buildings (it looks big enough to be some sort of centre itself if it were developed). There are also far too many really awful shop fronts and shop signs, with an ever-changing number of fly by night businesses.

The third major eyesore has to be the Carpet Man once again. That could be a lovely site overlooking the canal. If those three buildings were sorted, the place would look much better. The plans for the canal side of the village could have most potential. The canal adds a bit of character and the nicest roads in Phibsboro, Shandon Park and Shandon Drive are in that area also.

One other positive thing I've noticed on Daft for the past few years is that the slum landlords seem to be selling up from Cabra Park thanks to new legislation and the negative publicity which that jailed Garda landlord in Cabra Park brought down on them all in 2010.