Permission sought to change the use of student accommodation development in Cork City

A PLANNING application has been lodged seeking permission to change the use of Arcadia Hall on Lower Glanmire Road from student accommodation to general residential.

The student apartment complex, built in 2004, consists of 48 apartments in two four-storey blocks.

The apartments are comprised of one, three, four and five-bed units.

Since it was constructed, Arcadia Hall has housed students only, however, an application has now been submitted to Cork City Council by Arcadia House Management Company Limited in a bid to change the use to general residential.

A document accompanying the application states that the owners of the complex have seen a “steady decline in demand for their units” in recent years due to a number of factors.

“Regrettably, as new student accommodation has been made available, (much of it being closer to established education centres than Arcadia Hall), the owners have seen a steady decline in demand for their units.

“Furthermore, and due to the unprecedented events surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, there were no bookings for [sic] in the latter part of 2020 and all of 2021.

“The lifting of restrictions has not offered any tangible hope of the facility returning to a level of economic sustainability,” a letter to city council’s planning department states.

It asserts that it has become “increasingly difficult” for the facility to operate to its originally intended use and remain financially viable and it is therefore “imperative that the facility reinvents itself in a sustainable way”.

The correspondence states that when the existing development was completed it was fully compliant with the planning and design guidelines of the time but if the applicants were required to meet the 2020 standards for apartments “this could only be achieved by demolishing the existing structures and erecting an entirely new building/s on the site”.

“We would submit that this course of action would be unreasonable and disproportionate in the circumstances.

“It would also not be in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area as demolition and rebuilding would constitute a gross misuse of resources and a waste of scarce energy resources,” the letter states.

“Also, at a time of great need in the housing sector, we would respectfully submit that, as the apartments were built to the standards that pertained at the time they were developed, that there should be some flexibility in applying the current standards as this requirement would by definition necessitate the demolition of the existing structures,” it continues.

Arcadia House Management Company, if granted permission for the change of use, would look to rent the units to the private sector but is “open to making the units available to social, cost rental or AHB uses also,” the correspondence to city council states.

A decision on the planning application is due towards the end of June.