Dublin City Council has granted planning permission to Stormborn Capital Acquisition Three Limited, part of Dublin-based property group Twinlite, to regenerate Phibsborough Shopping Centre on Phibsborough Road, Dublin 7, into a major mixed-use development comprising a hotel, student accommodation, and retail, as reported by The Irish Times.

The scheme involves the refurbishment and extension of Phibsborough Tower and its change of use to a nine-storey, 150-bedroom hotel. A purpose-built student accommodation block ranging from five to nine storeys will provide 411 bedspaces, while a third four-storey block will incorporate residential and retail and restaurant uses.

The overall development covers Phibsborough Shopping Centre, Phibsborough Road, Nos. 345 to 349 North Circular Road, and adjacent lands. Twinlite purchased the Phibsborough Shopping Centre last September.

A 61-page council planner's report recommending approval noted that new residents, comprising the student population and hotel visitors, would add footfall to the local commercial streetscape and contribute to the vitality and viability of the broader urban village area.

Dublin City Council concluded that the enhanced mixed-use redevelopment, along with the redeveloped Dalymount Stadium, would help serve the needs of the surrounding catchment, providing a range of retail, commercial, cultural, social, and community functions accessible by foot, bicycle, or public transport in line with the concept of the 15-minute city.

A cover letter submitted by JSA Planning on behalf of the applicants identified the delivery of a significant public realm strategy as a key component of the proposal, including a new civic plaza and pedestrian route linking Phibsborough Road and North Circular Road, which would also serve as a primary arrival space for the soon-to-be-redeveloped Dalymount Park.

In a submission to the council, Marian Fitzpatrick, representing local community arts group Phizzfest CLG, said the proposal represented a significant opportunity to revitalise a site that had suffered from decades of neglect and underinvestment at the heart of Phibsborough.

The council is requiring the developers to pay a combined €3.09 million in planning contributions towards public infrastructure and the Luas Cross City Scheme.