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# The latest version of LDA's big plans in the Liberties give greater attention to gaps in Thomas Street
- URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/the-latest-version-of-ldas-big-plans-in-the-liberties-give-greater-attention-to-gaps-in-thomas-street/
- Published: 2026-11-04T00:04:03.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T00:04:03.000Z
- Description: As it stands, Pear Tree Crossing would see more than 700 new homes, businesses, cultural and community facilities, creches, and an acre of open space.
- Author: Michael Lanigan
- Tags: The Liberties, LDA, Housing, community centres

The four murals shaped like quotation marks on the walls of 14 Thomas Street were in tatters on Tuesday afternoon.

They depict everyday scenes from the Liberties.

A man carries a boy on his shoulder. Another wanders down Engine Alley with his arms in the air. A third shows someone, with their head ripped off, walking a dog whose body is also largely ripped off.

And finally, there are the shredded remains of what appears to be a woman on a park bench.

Created by the artists Owen de Forge and Deirdre Breen as part of a [Guinness Storehouse project titled These Walls](https://www.guinness-storehouse.com/en/dublin-8-community?ref=dublininquirer.com), the murals livened up the remnants of what was the headquarters of Dublin’s Piper’s Club between 1946 and 1976, [according to the Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann website](https://comhaltas.ie/history%5Fof%5Fthe%5Fpipers%5Fclub/?ref=dublininquirer.com).

Today, however, all that remains of the club is the ground-floor facade, partially covered by a wooden hoarding which is painted black.

Behind the wall is a mossy car park with a couple of muddied traffic cones.

And its neighbour, formerly the McGruders pub and off-licence, according to Google Street images, is a pink three-storey building which has windows some of which are boarded up, while the rest are tagged the graffiti artist Cisto.

Along the stretch of Thomas Street between Crane Street and Thomas Court, many of the ground-floor shop fronts resemble the old pub. Their shutters are down, and decorated either by a mural or a tag – or occasionally both.

It’s a very inactive part of the long street, said Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon by phone on Monday evening. “Even with the best efforts of the \[Guinness\] Storehouse and the Digital Depot.”

It is also an area that the Land Development Agency (LDA) has marked for rejuvenation as part of its development known as Pear Tree Crossing, which would see more than 700 new homes in and around Thomas Street, alongside businesses, cultural and community facilities, creches, and an acre of open space.

According to the [latest plans](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28865546-10632-lda-peartreecrossing-doc-v12-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for the mixed-use development, published in October, the LDA is looking for new infill buildings to be constructed along those portions of the street where there are gaps.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/11/Infill-on-Thomas-Street.png)

There’s a lot to welcome in this project, like its proposal to rejuvenate "a much dilapidated" part of Thomas Street, Labour Councillor Darragh Moriarty said at Dublin City Council’s full monthly meeting on Monday evening.

But, the LDA has said that, in line with current planning rules, it would only be giving 20 percent of the 716 homes to the council, Moriarty said. 

So, “10 percent would be social housing and the other 10 percent would be affordable or at the discretion of the city council”. The rest would be cost-rental.

Could they not get more as social, and less as cost-rental, he asked.

A spokesperson for the LDA said on Tuesday evening that they envisage that the project will be primarily cost-rental, and would include elderly living and social housing too. But the final tenure mix would be confirmed closer to the time of the project’s completion, they said.

## **Activating Thomas Street**

The Pear Tree Crossing [masterplan, published in 2023](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24528683-pear-tree-crossing-masterplan/?ref=dublininquirer.com), laid out a proposal to build about 550 homes on three sites that cover 3.7 hectares of land around Thomas Street.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/11/Pear-Tree-Crossing.png)

At that time, the government had plans to wind down the Digital Hub, which has a campus that stretches north and south of Thomas Street, where it rents space to dozens of companies. 

But the LDA seemed not that interested in taking on the crumbling and protected buildings fronting onto the south side of Thomas Street.

That created concerns that that stretch of road could be headed towards more vacancy, and more dereliction.

[Dissolution of Digital Hub could leave lots of Thomas Street area property vacant – presenting a danger, and an opportunity - Dublin InquirerThe government has ordered the transfer of the Hub’s campus to the Land Development Agency, but it only wants some of the land – and not for years.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/icon/Favicon-2-f2f7e237-6952-4820-926a-413a5ae68530.jpg)Dublin InQuirerSam Tranum![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/thumbnail/digital-hub-main-image-credit-sam-tranum-7b3db75c-974b-4120-8484-bf02473d2ada.jpg)](https://www.dublininquirer.com/dissolution-of-digital-hub-could-leave-lots-of-thomas-street-area-property-vacant-presenting-a-danger-and-an-opportunity/)

Since then, though, there's [been a push](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28865556-the-digital-hub-strategic-plan-2026-2028-english/?ref=dublininquirer.com) for Dublin City Council to take over and the Digital Hub so it can continue operating. 

And the LDA's October plans for Pear Tree Crossing say that [one of the main changes](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28865442-10632-lda-peartreecrossing-doc-v12-1-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p6) they've made since the 2023 masterplan is to that "The design now places Thomas Street at the heart of the proposal." 

"By activating the street frontage with new homes, active ground floors and improved public realm, the scheme will help transform this derelict part of Thomas Street into a vibrant, busy and welcoming main street," it says.

## **Plan breakdown**

Another change between the 2023 masterplan and the October design is that the pieces of land have shrunk while the scale of housing has increased.

Its latest document, published in late October, says that the LDA will be bringing forward an emerging proposal for the project which will see 716 homes being delivered across a 2.64 hectare site, [the report says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28865442-10632-lda-peartreecrossing-doc-v12-1-1/?ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p5).

To the south of Thomas Street, the document proposes 209 new homes as part of a residential development called Millar’s Place, which will be between three and 13 storeys high, the document says.

This will consist of 195 new-build homes as well as 14 along Thomas Street which are rejuvenated through “adaptive reuse” – so converting existing buildings – and which will include some age-friendly homes too, it says.

It is also set to get a 327sqm crèche space, some public open space as well as “communal private residential amenity space” for its residents, it continues.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/11/St-Patricks-Square-proposal-source-Land-Development-Agency.jpg)

St Patrick's Square proposal. Source: Land Development Agency.

Right across the street in the Digital Hub’s depot, another 112 homes are envisaged alongside open communal space and some commercial units, it says.

The old Watling Warehouse on the corner of Watling and Bonham Street has been reimagined as Roe Place, which the report says will consist of 144 apartments with communal open space and 680 sqm of community and culture space.

Finally, the former St Catherine’s Primary School is proposed to be redeveloped as 251 new homes between 5 and 9 storeys, with an envisaged “accessible public realm”, a communal garden, play area and enhanced pedestrian route, it says.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/11/Roe-Place-proposal-source-Land-Development-Agency.jpg)

Roe Place proposal. Source: Land Development Agency.

## **Housing**

It’s good to see the number of homes go from 550 to 716, said Pidgeon, the Green Party councillor. “There’s a fair amount of studios. But a huge amount of one-beds.”

According to the plan, the breakdown of the 716 homes is currently set at 152 studio apartments, 419 single bed flats, 140 two-beds and five with three or more beds.

Moriarty, the Labour councillor, said on Tuesday that he is worried that is a lot of single-bed homes. “Ultimately there is a very high proportion of studio and ones, which I am concerned about. We do need more family-sized social and public housing. Definitely.”

His big concern, though, is that this particular project is set to be predominantly cost-rental, he said. The LDA “are basically obliged to give 20 percent of the units to the local authority, 10 for social and 10 for affordable."

That's under Part V of the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2024.

But that the balance, 80 percent of the development, would be cost-rental, isn't right, said Moriarty, at the full council meeting on Monday. “I’d ask for the manager to consider the city council getting involved there more.”

Mick Mulhern, the council’s head of housing, said the scheme won’t be delivered until after 2030\. “We always engage with the LDA on all of their schemes to finalise a tenure that we’re comfortable with,” he said.

The only thing that the LDA would have said to date is to reiterate that they have to give that 20 percent to the council under Part V legislation, he said. “How much more social or affordable purchase that could be on that site, that all has to be worked its way through and we’ll work with them closely on that.”

An LDA spokesperson said the project is envisaged to be cost rental-led, but the final tenure mix for Pear Tree Crossing will be confirmed closer to the time of its completion. They'll talk about all that with the council later, they said.

According to the proposal, the LDA plans to submit its large-scale residential development planning application before the end of 2026.

Then, if that's approved, in 2028 they would start to build it out, it says.

## **Cultural amenities**

On 20 October, Dublin City Council officially launched a new public exhibition space within St Patrick’s Tower in the Digital Hub’s Depot.

As plans stand, it is to eventually be joined by 680sqm of community space within Roe Place, and another external community space within Bellevue Buildings, the proposal says. 

But, one building which the latest plan hasn’t yet identified for any specific community usage is [Vat House 7.](https://www.dublininquirer.com/government-has-floated-idea-of-using-building-in-the-digital-hub-as-new-home-for-the-complex-arts-centre/)

On Crane Street, the tall old vat house is one of the brewery’s auxiliary buildings, which the LDA believes may have the potential to be revived as a cultural facility.

It’s a huge, unwieldy space though, Sinn Féin Councillor Ciaran Ó Meachair said on Tuesday evening.

The LDA, in their briefing on the latest plans for Pear Tree Crossing, told local councillors that there are a lot of groups that won’t be able to use it due to its scale, he said.

“But we do need to ensure ultimately becomes a community facility and not a privately-run for profit thing that feeds back into the community,” Ó Meachair said.

A spokesperson for the LDA said on 28 October that it remains among a number of properties on the Digital Hub campus which are due to be transferred to the LDA by the Digital Hub Development Agency.