The Planning Appeals Board, An Bord Pleanála, has thwarted the ambitious plans of MMA fighter Conor McGregor to erect an impressive eight-story, £multimillion, apartment building with 113 units in his hometown of Drimnagh, Dublin. The development plans were firmly rejected on Friday.
The scheme was orchestrated by McGregor’s company, Emrajare Ltd, and involved tearing down the Marble Arch pub, which the fighter supposedly bought three years ago for a price between €1.5million and €2million.
The company’s ambitious project included not just the residential building, but also a restaurant, bar, cafe, gym, and retail unit on a nearly 0.73-acre plot at Benbulbin Road, Drimnagh. The make-up of the 113-unit apartment building included 57 two-bedroom flats, 53 one-bedroom flats, and three studios.
However, when McGregor’s Emrajare recently appealed a decision refusing planning permission from Dublin City Council, An Bord Pleanála put a stop to it. Over 20 objections were submitted by local residents, and the appeals board denied planning permission on three separate occasions.
Despite McGregor’s offer to scale down the project by over a third, An Bord Pleanála rejected his proposal. The board noted that the proposed project had disproportionate density of units per acre and given the lack of private leisure space for a significant number of apartments, the project was deemed to be unsuitable for its location.
The board outlined that the proposed development would both hamper resident’s living conditions and cause a negative impact on local amenities. Due to the significant height, scale, and density of the proposed development, the board stated that it would result in overbuilding and cause issues of overshadowing and overlooking especially the houses on Galtymore Road.
McGregor also proposed a revised plan of a 72-unit, six-story building that was 36% smaller than his original plan as part of the appeal. However, An Bord Pleanála deemed the revision lacked sufficient detail for a proper review. They specifically flagged the absence of floor plans, a Housing Quality Assessment, and other required documents from this proposed plan.
