Work is expected to begin imminently on a new 147 bed student accommodation development on the Fairgreen road.
Last month An Bord Pleanála upheld a decision by the city council to grant planning permission for a purpose built student accommodation development to CWC Webworks Limited.
O’Flynn Construction out of Dublin has been appointed as the main contractor for the project this week, clearing the way for work to begin shortly.
The proposed development consists of a five storey block of 46 apartments, with units ranging from having one to six beds each, for a total of 147 bed spaces.
The student accommodation block will be close to the city centre, located just south of the coach station on the Fairgreen road.
The ground floor of the building will be an extension of the coach station, and the block will also include an internal landscaped courtyard.
Construction on the student accommodation block is expected to take roughly 18 months to complete.
An appeal was lodged against the initial decision by the city council to grant permission for the development on the grounds that the plot density exceeded what was allowed under the city development plan.
Concerns were also expressed about the intention to include six bed apartments for students, arguing that these amount to “cramped conditions which are not conducive to a healthy atmosphere and an adequate standard of living conditions.”
In response the developer said that the plot density should be calculated based on the size of the site in the planning application, not the size of building, which it said was within guidelines.
An Bord Pleanála noted that the plot density does exceed normally allowed standards, but ultimately decided to allow work to go ahead on the student accommodation subject to 17 conditions.
