Plans lodged for city centre apartment block

A PLANNING application has been lodged for a five-storey apartment block in the city centre.

Dranom Developments has submitted plans with Cork City Council seeking permission for the new building at 29 Coach St.

The plans, if approved, would see the development of 15 new homes consisting of 14 one-bedroom apartments and one studio apartment, all with private open space in the form of an integrated balcony.

The development would include alterations to an existing residential building on the site to accommodate access to the new development.

It would also include the provision of bike storage but no car parking.

In a document submitted with the planning application, it states that the Coach St site is comprised of a plot of vacant land around 10m in width with an area to the rear that wraps around the existing residential building.

The total area of the site is approximately 600m2 in size, of which 245m2 is vacant with the remainder being occupied by the existing residential building.

The site is bounded in the front by Coach St, to the south by Peter's St, and to the rear by a private laneway that is entered from Peter's St to the south and Henry St to the north.

“The site itself is infill in nature and is bounded by the aforementioned block of apartments to the south comprised of four storeys and a line of three-storey dwellings to the north with pitched roofs,” the document states.

In relation to the height of the proposed new building, it states that Coach St is currently dominated by development that ranges from three to four storeys with pitched roofs; however, “the trend more recently in the surrounding areas along Bachelors Quay is for five-six storey development”.

“In discussion, at a pre-planning consultation… it was considered by the Planning Authority that four storeys may be appropriate; however, it was agreed that five storeys may be acceptable with careful design considerations,” it added.

It asserts that the design and nature of the development has been guided by the relevant planning policies.

If approved, the 15 new apartments in a block attached to the existing residential development that contains 12 apartments would see a total of 27 apartments at the site. A decision on the planning application is expected in January.