A NEW development, which would see up to 1,700 students brought into the heart of the city to study, along with student accommodation, is now a possibility for a key city site.
Limerick Twenty Thirty (LTT) announced a Memorandum of Understanding with the Technological University of The Shannon (TUS) on the development of the 10-acre Cleeves Riverside Quarter.
If brought to conclusion, the memorandum could bring new student life to the heart of the city, with an outline plan for 1,700 students located on the site.
500 accommodation units will be included in the overall development, with almost half allocated to student accommodation. College lecture spaces will also be be added to the development.
LTT, the property development company established as a special purpose vehicle of Limerick City and County Council to plan and develop key strategic sites in Limerick, has committed with TUS to explore the potential development of a campus, including student accommodation, at the site.
Designs are already complete for the residential elements and public realm, with LTT saying that the addition of the new university campus will complement the scheme, delivering a new neighbourhood for Limerick where people can live, learn, work, and grow up.
Among the key elements of the masterplan for the site are the 500 residential units, workspaces, a waterfront office tower, and a vibrant, connected public realm that will connect seamlessly across campus, well as linking the Cleeves Riverside Quarter to the city.
The TUS element, which will be subject to funding from the Higher Education Authority and other sources, is centred on the Cleeves Riverside Quarter Flaxmill site, one of the most historic industrial sites in the city.
The plan is to transform the LTT-owned site “into a dynamic project that will become a new heartbeat for Limerick,” according to the development company.
LTT will in 2025 submit the first of its two-phased planning application for the site, located on O’Callaghan Strand/North Circular Road.
Phase 1 will include public realm, housing, and heritage works, with Phase 2 to include the LTT-TUS partnership.
Conn Murray, outgoing LTT chairman said that “our mandate is to be an enabler of economic growth in Limerick by developing ourselves or partnering with other developers to deliver key strategic sites that can act as catalysts for economic growth”.
“This partnership with TUS will be a brilliant proof point of what we are seeking to do. It will bring over 1,700 students into the city centre, which will help with the transformation of the city into one of the most vibrant urban centres in Ireland.”
TUS President Professor Vincent Cunnane added that “the mission of TUS is to be a catalyst for sustainable change through education and research that transforms lives, our region, and the world beyond. Our participation in the Cleeves Riverside Quarter project is very much in line with this mission and our continued expansion.”
The 10-acre Cleeves Riverside Quarter is one of Limerick’s most recognisable sites, synonymous for its 142ft red-bricked chimney stack, which remains the emblem for what was one of Ireland’s largest industrial sites of the 19th century, designed and built for up to 6,000 workers.
It was home to the famous Cleeves Toffee and the Condensed Milk Company, which had 3,000 employees on its payroll and sourced its raw material from 3,000 farmers across Ireland. The site also has significant political heritage, having been one of the key locations in the Limerick Soviet of 1919.
