Renewed confidence in Dublin’s property market is reflected in price hikes, but perhaps less obvious is the surge in refurbishment investment in existing properties. Nowhere is this more evident than on Dublin 4’s Shrewsbury Road, where a swathe of recent planning applications might trigger a sense of déjà vu as the plans lodged for extensions and renovations trump anything built on the road at the height of the Celtic Tiger.
Top of the pile is Denis O’Brien’s Belmont, 21 Shrewsbury Road, which is among a number of houses on Dublin City’s premier road that have recently had plans submitted for extraordinary extensions. In August a planning application was lodged to demolish an existing extension of the house and to extend the remaining 546sq m (5,877sq ft) house to a total of 964sq m (10,183sq ft). In 2007, permission was refused for the demolition of Belmont and the construction of a new 2,047sq m (22,033sq ft) property in its place. It will be interesting to see if this application gets the go ahead.
Meanwhile, Yesreb Holdings was granted permission in March to extend Walford, 24 Shrewsbury Road – the former home of Sean Dunne and Gayle Kilalea – from 546sq m (5,877sq ft) to 964sq m (10,376sq ft). The same month, Francesca McWilliams was granted planning permission to extend Lissadell, 9 Shrewsbury Road, from 408sq m (4,392sq ft) to 1,069sq m (11,506sq ft), and that work is well under way to make way for a new basement level that will include a swimming pool, staff accommodation, a kitchen and a wine cellar.
Number 28 Shrewsbury Road has been less successful with its plans. Its permission for a 5,812sq ft ultra-modern flat-roof home was recently overturned by An Bord Pleanála for being too out of character. The owner has now applied for an extension of duration of a permission obtained previously by Niall O'Farrell (when he owned it) for a 10,602sq ft three-storey over-basement property with swimming pool, a lift and staff accommodation. It's possible they will re-apply for what they really want but want to extend this permission as a back up if all else fails.
Just as numerous long-term renovation projects on the street have reached completion, it seems that builders will have to wait some years yet before hanging up their hard hats on Shrewsbury.
