[Article] €22m Dart station to give Clongriffin a boost

[Colm Moore]

At €22m, I take it that the developers are also paying for some of the track upgrade.


http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...267823114.html

€22m Dart station to give Clongriffin a boost

The opening of the Dart station on April 19th is expected to generate more retail activity in the new town, writes JACK FAGAN

IRELAND’S NEWEST town at Clongriffin, on the north-eastern edge of Dublin city, will move up a gear when its newly developed Dart station opens for rail commuters on April 19th.

Businessman Gerry Gannon – whose €1bn-plus of property loans are due to end up in Nama – has completed development work on his side of the elaborate €22 million station and residents on the Baldoyle side of the facility will also be able to avail of the Dart service which is along the Dublin-Malahide line. Gannon paid 65 per cent of the station’s cost with developers Seán Mulryan and Séamus Ross paying the balance.

The opening of the station is expected to draw thousands of commuters through Clongriffin town centre, where Gannon Developments has built a 500-space park-and-ride facility under the town square as well as a 700-space multi-storey car park. The town will eventually cater for about 25,000 residents.

Two sides of the town’s open air square designed by Conroy Crowe Kelly Architects have already been completed and include a 2,900sq m (31,215sq ft) supermarket to be operated by Superquinn. Travelators will take shoppers to an overhead department store of 2,800sq m (30,129sq ft) which is to be offered to some of the top names in retailing by joint agents HT Meagher O’Reilly and Finnegan Menton.

The agents will also be marketing a range of other retail units at street level where a number of top traders are already open. These include Centra, Paddy Power, Franks Kitchen, Brownes Barber, Carry Out off licence and Clongriffin Pharmacy.

The units still available range in size from 68sq m to 1,393sq m (731sq ft to 15,000sq ft). A 67-bedroom hotel has also been completed in the new town centre and an office block of 1,800sq m (19,375sq ft) has been pre-let to the HSE.

The east side of Clongriffin town centre has a five-storey apartment block with 87 homes over ground floor shops which also form one edge of the civic steps leading to the new Dart station. The staggered steps lead to a pedestrian, cycle and bus-only bridge to Baldoyle village. The third side of the square has been earmarked for a 14-storey landmark office block.

The majority of the shops are on the ground floor of mainly five-storey apartment blocks running along the main route connecting Malahide Road to Station Square. Small local parks and squares at various places in the town add interest. The western edge is dominated by the 22-hectare Fr Collins Park, complete with towering wind turbines that provide some of the energy needs of the new town.

The park will have a children’s playground, a boating lake, running track and playing pitches.

Eventually, Clongriffin will have a variety of shopping, entertainment and social facilities to cater for about 5,500 homes on both sides of the Dart line. Séamus Ross’s Menolly Homes is developing the former Baldoyle Racecourse while Seán Mulryan’s Ballymore has retained a large part of the old racecourse for a development of large family homes.

Up to 700 acres of zoned land belonging to Gannon, mainly in north Dublin, are expected to be transferred to Nama, along with other properties. It is likely that some of Gannon’s borrowings were included in the first wave of loans transferred to Nama last week.


Photo: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...67823114_1.jpg Clongriffin Dart station: Its opening is expected to draw thousands of commuters to the new town taking shape near Baldoyle.
Photograph: Aidan Crawley

[Colm Moore]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...breaking8.html

New €22m Dart station opens

A new €22 million Dart station opens today at Clongriffin, a newly-developed town in the north-east of Dublin.

The station was developed by businessman Gerry Gannon – whose €1bn-plus of property loans are due to end up in Nama.

The station will be officially opened this afternoon by the Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey.

Designed by Iarnród Éireann Architects, and funded by the developers of Clongriffin and Coast, Gannon Homes Ltd and Helsingnor Ltd respectively, the project is in collaboration with the respective Local Authorities of Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council.

Commuters will be able to reach the city centre in as little as 17 minutes by rail, with 74 trains a day serving the station. Rail services will link commuters to Connolly, Tara Street and Pearse Stations.

Residents on the Baldoyle side of the facility will also be able to avail of the Dart service which is along the Dublin-Malahide line.

[ACustomer]

€22m is an awful lot for what should be a fairly basic 2 platforms linked by lifts and a bridge, plus a simple structure for booking, waiting, etc. Are there lots of unused extra platforms for turnback facilities which are redundant?

[Colm Moore]

I think there are 4 or 5 platforms. Hopefully they'll use them to allow Enterprise services overtake DARTs and Commuters.

There is also a public transport bridge.

[Mark Gleeson]

4 platforms, 2 in use, 3rd to come online in the next 2 years and the 4th ?

The station is built over the track, and is full sized for commuter services. Its got 175m platforms

[weehamster]

Still, €22m still seems a bit much

[Mark Gleeson]

It cost IE nothing to build, but then again its the only train station NAMA will own.

[dowlingm]

Do the developers own it? I thought they were only paying for it. In any case, IE could buy it back from NAMA for half-price or less given the current haircutting

[Colm Moore]

I went out this evening. Its in much the same style as the new stations on the Kildare Route Project, but not quite as generous.

Facilities include ticket office, 4 TVMs, a small shop (it doesn't seem to be open yet), about 10 ticket gates (wide gate in the centre) with lifts and stairs down to two island platforms. Only the existing two tracks are in place and a lot of work is needed before it can be 4-tracked, especially on the east (The Coast side). The roof is a canvas canopy, with lots of the walls in glass so its light and (a bit too) airy. There are good views as far as Howth, Ireland's Eye and you can just about make out Portmarknock station.

The public transport bridge is built, but there is only vehicular access to it from the west side. In lieu, there is a bus turning area on the east side and the Dublin Bus route 128 continues to use the Square between Clongriffin's Main Street, Bridge Street and Railway Hill.

The car park is open and I suspect free. Be wary of inappropriate parking on any of the streets as clamping is in force.

One bugbear is the stairs and lift access from The Coast. It is of temporary construction (but well built). However, the steps and landings are made from perforated steel plate. Now only does it deflect uncomfortably underfoot, but you can also see through it to two floors below.

[Colm Moore]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...268699721.html

€22m Dart station: Clongriffin unveiled
OLIVIA KELLY

DUBLIN’S NEWEST Dart station was opened yesterday by Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey at Clongriffin, North Dublin.

Construction of the €22 million station was a condition of the planning permissions for the Clongriffin and Coast housing developments. Approximately 65 per cent of the cost was borne by Gannon Homes, builders of Clongriffin with the remainder funded by Coast developers Helsingor.

Iarnród Éireann, which was responsible for the design and running of the station said it will take just 17 minutes to reach the city centre by Dart from Clongriffin, with 63 trains a day serving the station.

Clongriffin, on the border of Fingal and Dublin city was initially planned as a new “north fringe” town to have a population of 30,000 to 40,000, and facilities such as a cinema, department store, supermarket, and other facilities.

The eventual population has now been revised to about 25,000. So far about 4,000 homes have been built, a large number of which remain for sale. Few of the retail units are occupied, although a Centra store, off-licence, Chinese restaurant and a pharmacy have opened.

The development of the new town has suffered as a result of the property collapse. But the developers hope the opening of the new station will give fresh impetus to sales.

The station will also serve the existing communities of Baldoyle and Donaghmede and a park and ride facility with 400 spaces for commuters has been provided.

Local Labour councillor Seán Kenny said residents of a neighbouring development could not get to the station because developer Stanley Holdings was leaving roads unfinished.

“It is regrettable that commuters in nearby Belmayne will be unable to access Clongriffin directly, due to the foot-dragging delays by Coalport and Stanley Holdings in completing the Priory Hall Road and the connecting Main Street, Belmayne” he said.

Speaking at the station opening Mr Dempsey said its development was an example of a successful public private partnership scheme.

Photo: Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey addresses the media yesterday at the unveiling of the new Dart station. Photograph: Dara MacDónaill http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...68699721_1.jpg