A NUMBER of planned and ongoing developments in Limerick City and suburbs will significantly increase the city’s housing stock over the next 20 years.
At the recent Future of Retail Event organised by Limerick City and County Council and Retail Excellence Ireland, Council Director of Services for Economic Development and Enterprise Vincent Murray gave a presentation on ongoing and future plans for the city.
Mr Murray outlined that with the population of the city set to rise 50 per cent by 2040, 11,000 new homes would be needed by 2028 to support this growth.
An estimated 500 homes would be delivered per year from the private sector, he said, with the Council hoping to deliver 450 social and affordable homes per year to keep up with current and future demand.
According to Mr Murray, the works on the Cleeves site on the banks of the River Shannon could provide over 300 homes once works are completed, while the redevelopment of the area around Colbert Station could also deliver over 1,000 homes in the next 15 to 20 years.
The Colbert Quarter plans aim to utilise vacant brownfield sites to “transform them into a vibrant, liveable, mixed-use and compact urban quarter.”
The Living City Initiative is also available to owners of historic buildings in the city to get them back into use as homes.
There have been 61 applications for the scheme so far, with 14 buildings completed, providing 70 residential units as part of the scheme.
A further 13 units have been delivered on Thomas Street in the city centre, along with a further eight on O’Connell Street, which will be used as social and affordable housing.
Student accommodation will also form part of housing plans, with University of Limerick (UL) city campus providing student accommodation when plans for the city campus are fully completed.
Outside the city centre, Limerick Twenty Thirty have plans to develop 850 residential units at Mungret Park on a phased basis. Planning has so far been granted for 252 units on the site.
Mr Murray told the Limerick Post that the council is “constantly working with the private sector, the LDA, and its own internal departments to address housing delivery in the city centre”.
“All of the work being done is with the aim of addressing housing demand increasing footfall and occupancy in the city centre,” he concluded.
