Required to be open, pedestrian route via Cork Street co-living complex is frequently closed

The automated gates guarding the southern end of the laneway beside Liberties House – a “premium co-living development” on Cork Street – were malfunctioning.

Slowly, they swung open. Then, after a few moments, they closed again.

Over and over, they repeated the same motions to nobody in particular on Sunday afternoon.

Most pedestrians strolled by indifferently. A few paused momentarily as if expecting a vehicle to drive out. But no vehicle ever emerged.

In any case, if anyone had walked in, they couldn’t have continued on past Liberties House to John Street South, on the other side, and on to Marrowbone Lane and beyond, because the automated gates on that northern end were jammed.

They were ajar by about three inches. But they wouldn’t budge any further. Nor did the green button inside the lane, intended to open them up, help.

It was one of the brand-new lane’s better days. The weekend prior, the gates hadn’t been open at all.

The property manager, Grayling Properties Limited, wrote to Dublin City Council in August 2022, saying they would be open for public use between 7am and 8pm daily.

But, while Grayling has been posting advertisements to rent out “studios” in Liberties House since June, the Liberties House website says it was due to open on 1 September, and a 19 December Liberties House Instagram post says it shows residents at a party there, the gates weren’t open on three separate visits since Saturday, 17 January.

That is despite An Bord Pleanála saying in December 2020 that the co-living development couldn’t be occupied before the lane was in use.

Kieran Rose, a former council planner, and a local, says he has yet to see the link fully accessible. “And I pass by almost every day. Going and coming.”

While a spokesperson for the council did not respond when asked on Monday if their planning enforcement section had looked into this issue, Rose, as well as Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon say it has issued a warning letter.

Neither the developer Project Maurice Limited, when emailed on Monday, nor the property manager Grayling Properties – which shares a director with Project Maurice – emailed on Tuesday, have responded to queries sent asking why the gates have not yet been opened.

An access point like this is vital on a street as vast as Cork Street, Pidgeon said on Monday. “It makes it more viable, rather than needing to take these long circuitous routes around the place.”

From the pram to the co-living bedspace

Before Liberties House, the site of 118 to 122 Cork Street was occupied by a pair of terraced houses, a shop and a warehouse, images on Google Street View show.

Both the warehouse and the shop, Paddy Whelan – which sold televisions, radios and prams – were vacant since before 2009, the images show.

The old warehouse had been associated with an old glass factory to the rear of 113 to 115 Cork Street, according to an An Bord Pleanála (ABP) inspector’s report from December 2020.

Alphabet ABC Properties Limited applied to ABP in September 2020, asking for permission to demolish the buildings on the site and put up a build-to-rent shared-living residential development.

The new complex would comprise 387 beds, as well as a ground-floor cafe, communal kitchen, living and dining areas, a shared lounge, cinema, yoga space, gym, library, and workspaces, according to Alphabet’s application.

Alphabet also sought permission to include a pedestrian connection between Cork Street and John Street South, located to the rear of the building.

It was a link that the Liberties local area plan for 2009 to 2020 identified as a potential opportunity at this location to meet the objective of improving permeability for pedestrians in the area.

Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty was among 28 observers to make a submission during the planning stage.

He was looking to prevent the planning board from giving Alphabet permission to develop co-living on the site, Moriarty said on 19 January. “I felt very strongly that we needed higher-quality residential apartments as opposed to predominantly student accommodation that was unaffordable, and co-living. So I sprung into action on that basis.”

Other observers who submitted their views to the planning board raised issues with the pedestrian access point, saying this would attract anti-social behaviour, according to the inspector’s report, also noting that it was unclear who would be responsible for managing it.

Open daily

An Bord Pleanála gave the development a green light with conditions.

Among them, the provision of more information on the operation, security, management and supervision of the pedestrian link, as well as a statement outlining that members of the public would have the “full right and liberty for the free passage and use of the pedestrian walkway”.

It would be completed and available for use prior to the occupation of the development, the board’s order says.

In November 2021, real estate investment company Crossroads purchased the site from Alphabet ABC Properties, “in partnership with Lugus Capital and Grayling Properties as local asset manager”, according to the Crossroads website.

Crossroads’ partner Ian Gear and finance manager Jakob Zinner are listed as directors of Project Maurice Limited, a company registered in Cork.

In July 2022, Project Maurice Limited’s other company director David Hickey wrote to Dublin City Council granting all members of the public use of the link as a public right of way.

Then, a letter sent to Dublin City Council by Grayling Properties in August 2022, said the pedestrian link would be the responsibility of “the Facilities and Security Managers”.

To discourage antisocial behaviour, security gates would be installed at either end, and would remain open between 7am and 8pm daily, with the area also fully lit and monitored via security personnel and 24-hour CCTV, their letter said.

On Tuesday morning, at precisely 10.48am, both gates were shut, with a navy blue car parked right in front of the southern gate.

Basically a walkway

It is “basically” a walkway, except that it has the three gates; one at either end and a third in the middle, all of which are automated, says Sinn Féin Councillor Ciaran Ó Meachair. 

“And it is supposed to be public access, but there’s no public access because of the three gates,” Ó Meachair says.

Right now, it gives the impression of private property, says Rose, the former council planner. “Any average ordinary person would take it that you’re not allowed in, or security might come out and say you’re tresspassing.”

This access point could drastically improve permeability between Cork Street, John Street South and Marrowbone Lane, said Pidgeon, the Green Party councillor.

It’s maddening that the planning board required this public pedestrian route when granting Alphabet planning permission for Liberties House, and that Project Maurice and Grayling have pledged to deliver it, but it’s not really open, he says.

It’s a pattern in this part of the city, says Pidgeon. A developer agrees to something during the planning process that will provide public benefit, and then changes course after the project is built.

Like, when the developer of the Eight Building office block on Newmarket agreed to include a market in it, but then later applied for permission to drop it. Or when the developer of the Grand Canal Harbour promised a permeability through the apartment complex but then put up fences (with gates) – a move the council has taken them to court over. 

“You promise stuff to get the application through. Helps smooth things over with the planners. But then when it comes to implementation you either don’t do it, hope no one notices and if someone does, you apply for retention,” Pidgeon says.

Pidgeon wrote to the council about the issue with Liberties House, as did Ó Meachair, Ó Meachair said on Tuesday. “They said that they have opened an investigation into it.”