400-bed student housing complex planned for Dublin

Plans for a €41 million 400-bedroom student housing complex have been submitted to Dublin City Council.

The development, which includes shops, restaurants, cafes and a gym, is proposed for a 2.5 acre site on Mill Street in Newmarket, near St Patrick’s Cathedral in the southwest inner city.

Global Student Accommodation (GSA) will fund and manage the scheme, which is expected to see its first students in the autumn of 2017.

The complex will be built over five blocks ranging in height from four to seven storeys and includes 96 apartments with a total of 406 bed spaces.

Most of the existing buildings on the site are former industrial premises and will be cleared prior to construction. However a derelict pre-Georgian townhouse at 10 Mill Street, one of the last remaining “Dutch Billy” style 17th century houses in Dublin, will be restored and reused as part of the development.

A Dubai-based student accommodation development and management group, GSA already runs similar purpose-built schemes in central London, Dubai, Tokyo, China and Australia, but the Mill Street development would be its first in Dublin.

“We see a clear demand for our type of accommodation that just isn’t being met at the moment and we are encouraged by the initiatives of both central Government and Dublin City Council in promoting Dublin as an international student city,” GSA Europe chief executive Tim Mitchell said.

“ Our Dublin business plan involves deploying up to €250 million over the next few years, so this project represents an important step for us.”