An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) has approved plans by the Irish arm of US property giant Kennedy Wilson for a nine-storey “world class mixed-use office led campus” at St Stephen’s Green, Dublin, with capacity for more than 3,000 office workers.
ACP found KW Investment Funds ICAV’s revisions to its office scheme, which was granted planning permission at Stokes Place in January 2023, “would not seriously injure the visual amenities of the area and would not detract from the architectural heritage of the area”.
The existing offices at Stokes Place house the Irish HQ of KPMG. That firm is preparing to move to a new Irish HQ on nearby Harcourt Square in October.
The appeal came before ACP this year following a surprise appeal by An Taisce, the heritage and conservation body.
RM Block
It did not object when the scheme was before Dublin City Council last year as the local authority did not refer the application to An Taisce, which is recognised as a prescribed body under planning legislation, meaning it must be notified by councils of certain planning applications.
In the appeal, Kevin Duff, of An Taisce’s planning unit, and its heritage officer, Ian Lumley, said they were appealing “on the grounds of location sensitivity” as the application warranted referral by the council to An Taisce under planning regulations and no such referral was issued.
At the time of the original grant of permission in January 2023, ACP granted planning permission to KW Investment Funds ICAV to demolish the existing office complex at Stokes Place facing on to St Stephen’s Green and Harcourt Street and for the construction of an eight-storey office block.
In the new scheme ACP has granted planning permission for the applicants to add a ninth floor to the scheme.
The new approved plan includes a residential component through the refurbishment of nine flats in the existing Russell Court apartment building.
Stephen Little, planning consultant for KW, had told the city council that “the ambition is to develop a world-class, mixed-use campus with a strong focus on office space, supported by outstanding architecture and carefully considered placemaking”.
