500-bed student accommodation to be built at Gardiner Street site

The €60 million project project, due to be finished by 2017, will provide housing for students from both Trinity and DIT Bolton Street

A 500-bed student apartment complex is being planned for the former Industrial Development Agency site on Gardiner Street. The €60 million project is a joint venture between the Dubai-based Global Student Accommodation (GSA) Group and the Irish company Carrowmore Property. The venture is part of an agreement between GSA and US-based venture capital firm Harrison Street Real Estate Capital (HSRE) in January to invest €250 million in student accommodation in Dublin over the next five years.

The agreement came on the back of the sale of its stake in the Urbanest brand in the UK by GSA. The seven-storey Gardiner Street development, which is expected to be completed by 2017, will contain student accommodation on the upper floors while the ground floor will be taken up with cafe facilities.

The development is within walking distance of both Trinity College and the DIT Bolton Street Campus, the students of which will be the primary tenants of the facility. It will also be located a short distance from a stop on the new Luas Cross City line.

Speaking about the project, Patrick Fox, managing director of Carrowmore Property, recognised the immense potential of the site and added that the development would be a welcome addition to student accommodation in Dublin. Tim Mitchell, CEO of GSA Europe said the development will provide “much-needed homes and new accommodation choices for students studying in the city,” and believes the project “will be a real catalyst to the redevelopment of the Gardiner Street area”.

This is the second joint venture in the area of student accommodation between GSA and HSRE following their announcement in December of a €41 million 400 bed student accommodation development at Mill Street in Dublin 8 which will also contain offices and shops. The announcement is more good news for students following a number of other student accommodation projects in recent months which will help to ease the current student housing crisis.

Trinity have been given permission to demolish Oisín House on Pearse Street and replace it with 278 student apartments. This project will also house a new health centre, the disability service and sports clubs in need of space after the demolition of Luce Hall. Meanwhile planning permission has recently been granted for a 374-bed student housing project in Summerhill by McAleer and Rushe in conjunction with Threesixty Developments. This is part of plans by Threesixty to construct €40 million worth of student accommodation in the Liberties.