First the newspapers moved out, then there was a plan for homes and a hotel. These days, it’s just sitting there empty – but it’s not on the vacant sites register.
The council also refused the owner’s request to demolish the existing structure on the site at 92/93 Francis Street, but on Tuesday it was being torn down.
There have been government interventions. But work on vacant homes has been muddled because vacancy is far more complicated than our current understanding captures.
“Pixo”, which finds its origins in protests against urban inequality in Brazilian cities, has found a familiar canvas on derelict and vacant buildings around the Liberties and the Coombe.
This month’s cover is a pastiche of the “Doors of Dublin” poster and postcard, substituting its polished Georgian doors with doors to vacant buildings and makeshift homes.
When we asked readers what they wanted candidates running for Dublin City Council to talk about, dereliction and vacancy were among the top-10 most-mentioned issues.
An advert for the site, vacant for years, says a feasibility study displays “the potential for a student accommodation scheme comprising 285 bed spaces”.
