Derelict 14-storey Sandyford office block to be converted into apartments

Plans to finally complete one of south Dublin’s most notorious derelict buildings, the 14-storey Sentinel tower in Sandyford, left unfinished for 15 years, have been lodged with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.

Dante Property Company, owned by Galway-born brothers Luke and Brian Comer, is seeking permission to finish what was once one of tallest office buildings under construction in Dublin, and convert it into an apartment block.

Once completed the scheme would house 110 apartments in the 14-storey tower and an adjoining block which would be increased in height from six to eight storeys. More than half of the apartments would be two-beds with 22 one-beds and 28 three-beds.

The Sentinel tower is part of the larger Rockbrook site, formerly the Allegro industrial lands which were assembled about 20 years ago by Cork developer John Fleming.

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Mr Fleming’s company Tivway began work on the Sentinel in 2007, but the following year an examiner was appointed to the company and construction halted, leaving only the skeleton of the building completed. Following the rejection by the Supreme Court of a rescue plan for the company, Tivway eventually collapsed in 2010 owing banks more than €1 billion.

The Comer brothers bought the Sentinel in 2011 for €850,000. Separately, investment company Ires Reit, now the largest private landlord operating in Ireland, bought the rest of the Rockbrook lands in 2015, including several hundred finished apartment blocks as well as sites designated for apartments.

In 2017 the Comer’s Dante was granted permission to redevelop the Sentinel with 294 “office suites” with small work-live studio facilities. However, the scheme never went ahead, largely due to access issues to the Sentinel’s basement car park, with the access ramp remaining in the ownership of Ires.

However, the Comers recently bought the adjoining “RB Central” site from Ires giving them a majority share of the basement and allowing the Sentinel apartment scheme to progress. The RB Central site has permission for 428 apartments which are already under construction.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown county councillors last year voted to rezone the Sentinel site, removing the requirement for an office element with a “specific local objective” to “facilitate completion of the unfinished block and allow consideration of a maximum of 110 residential units” included in the county development plan.

Fine Gael councillor Barry Saul said he hoped the application to develop the Sentinel would be a spur to the wider completion of the area with much-needed community facilities.

“I welcome the new application to complete the Sentinel building in Sandyford. The building has been idle for over a decade and this application will finally see it completed. The commencement of work on the site next door will see just over 550 apartments delivered which is welcome news,” he said.

“The biggest issue in Sandyford is the failure to deliver community facilities for the local community. This now has to be the priority for the council and we have been very vocal about re-emphasising this to council management. I’m confident of substantial progress on the community facility side shortly.”