They're set to back the creation of a special purpose vehicle he's been picked to head, which is meant to play a major role in regenerating the city centre – but how major is in dispute.
Changes include a buffer aimed at reducing the project's impact on neighbouring Finglas – and density reductions expected to shave off thousands of homes.
Many council-owned apartments are sitting empty in ageing complexes scheduled to be torn down and rebuilt in the coming years. Some argue that people could live in them in the meantime.
The council owns 11 hectares in Belmayne, perhaps enough for 1,000 new homes. One councillor wonders why the council isn’t working faster to develop it.
The site has been subject to a half-dozen planning applications over the last number of years. It’s on the council’s Vacant Sites Register, but its owners are appealing that.
Dublin City Councillors sometimes agree to sell off a property with the proviso that the buyer must start redeveloping it within months. That doesn’t always happen.
It was once “a hive of industry”, a neighbour said. But the buildings went derelict one after another during the 1980s and 1990s, says a local business owner.
