Dublin City Council signs off on half-billion euro office move from Wood Quay to Camden Yard
Dublin City Council (DCC) has signed the more than half-billion euro contract to acquire the Camden Yard site on Kevin Street, paving the way for the authority to move its offices from Wood Quay.
In a note shared with councillors, DCC chief executive Richard Shakespeare said the authority had finished its 10-week due diligence process, and had decided to proceed with the momentous acquisition.
“This is an important milestone,” said Mr Shakespeare. “The acquisition enables us to progress plans for the development of a new Civic Offices at Camden Yard, designed to modern, energy‑efficient standards, alongside the delivery of up to 300 public homes on the site.
“As outlined previously, relocating from the existing Civic Offices at Wood Quay would also unlock the potential for in excess of 500 public homes on the Wood Quay lands. This approach supports both our climate objectives and the city’s significant housing needs.”
Work is now set to begin on the detailed design, planning and sequencing required for the move to take place, he said.
The €581m Camden Yard move, understood to be driven largely by the chief executive, has been sold to councillors and the public as a way of increasing the efficiency of the authority’s main offices, while also providing extensive additional housing.
In plans outlined behind closed doors, a four-block 530-unit housing scheme has been proposed for the Wood Quay site, with three of those to be made up of cost-rental units, and the fourth dedicated to social housing.
The impetus for the headquarter swap – the most significant in the council’s history – is the need to improve the energy efficiency of DCC’s offices, which were completed in 1994 after years of truncated construction.
However, the environmental impact of knocking the existing offices in the name of energy efficiency has been questioned.
Mr Shakespeare has said upgrading Wood Quay’s modern energy efficiency standards would cost between €487m and €504m, making it poor value for taxpayers, however the document detailing those costings has not been made public.
DCC is aiming to occupy the new offices by 2029, following a two-year construction process.
Social Democrats councillor Jesslyn Henry told the Irish Independent she had her doubts about the transaction.
"Look, from being in the DCC offices, they absolutely need an upgrade, even the public toilets are pretty bad,” she said.
“But I don’t think there are enough answers on what will happen to the Wood Quay site and where the money is going to come from to build that. There’s just not enough answers for me.”
Her party colleague Karl Stanley said that while there were operational benefits to DCC from the move, risks remain.
"Dubliners have had to endure high levels of vacancy and dereliction for decades - DCC needs to produce a clear, time-bound plan for when the Wood Quay site will be redeveloped so that we're not faced with another large prime site sitting idle for decades,” said Cllr Stanley.
Labour councillor Darragh Moriarty sounded a more positive tone, saying that “on the face of it, this is a very exciting prospect for Dublin.”
"We are taking over a site where development has come to a halt and getting that started again for public gain,” he said, adding that more than 800 homes could result from the move.
"While there are heritage and archaeological issues that will need to be carefully navigated on the Wood Quay site, this is a massive win-win as far as I’m concerned.
"Any move we can make to deliver more public housing and alleviate the pressures we know are on our housing waiting lists with record levels of homelessness are to be welcomed.”