Cavan-based builder P Elliott & Co has got planning permission from Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to build a massive €300 million residential development at Stepaside, Co Dublin.

The proposal to build 749 apartments on the eastern side of the Enniskerry Road next to Aiken's Village was sanctioned despite industry speculation that it might get the thumbs down from planners.

This speculation began in June after Tudor Homes' proposal for a development of 130 apartments at nearby Woodside Road was refused planning permission, despite intensive development of apartments and houses in the area.

P Elliott & Co is to build a mix of apartments and houses on the 30-acre site in the townlands of Murphystown and Woodside.

This would comprise 616 apartments in 28 blocks rising to eight storeys. It will also have sports facilities, a clubhouse, 10 shops, a crèche and a café.

The development will also include 126 houses and 1,317 car-parking spaces, over 950 of which would be at basement level, and the scheme would be accessed through the Aiken's Village Distributor Road.

Reaching eight storeys, the apartments on the upper floors are likely to have views over Dublin Bay.

P Elliott and Co, controlled by Mark and Noel Elliott, has become increasingly high profile in recent years.

It bought Belfast's 262ft Windsor House earlier this year for £30 million (€44.5 million) and recently submitted a planning permission to redevelop the former Irish Times building on D'Olier Street, Dublin 2, for which it paid €29 million.

In addition, the company is also behind the €80 million redevelopment of Fatima Mansions in the Rialto area of Dublin 8.