The first housing units from the Cherrywood Strategic Development Zone project are due to be ready in 2020, according to developers.
The US firm Hines today took part in an official launch which will see the construction of 1,269 rental units including 130 social units.
The Cherrywood SDZ plan was first announced in 2010 with an overall plan for 8,000 homes.
However, there have been delays with the SDZ process itself and with the fact there are 12 different landowners.
Hines has already spent €50m over the past 18 months on constructing infrastructure, including 83 acres of parks and 5.4km of roads.
A further €15m will be provided by the State for road infrastructure as part of the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund.
The site already has a number of stops on the Luas Green line.
An Bord Pleanála recently ruled that the phasing of housing development at Cherrywood can be sped up without having to redesign plans because of the upfront delivery of infrastructure.
When finished in seven or eight years' time, the town of Cherrywood will have a population of up to 25,000 people and five Luas stops.
Amendment to the planning scheme
Meanwhile, RTÉ Investigates has learned that a decision has been taken by an Bord Pleanála to allow for the amendment to Cherrywood’s planning scheme following a submission made by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to accelerate the delivery of housing on the site.
The decision effectively allows for the removal of a restriction on development, which limited it to only taking place on a phased or sequenced basis in the SDZ.
The council made the submission to amend the SDZ’s Planning Scheme last July.
The local authority announced in early 2017 that 4,000 residential units would be completed within three years, by early 2020.
Without today’s approved change to the planning xcheme, planning could only be given for developments in the first phase of development known as Growth Area One, where property firm Hines turned the sod today for ‘build to rent’ apartments, although no commencement order to start building has been issued.
Today’s decision means that planning applications for development of the wider SDZ, in what are known as Growth Areas Two and Three, where much of the larger sites for housing are situated, can be made to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council’s planning department once the new amendment is implemented by the local authority.
It is not clear how long DLRCC will take to implement the amendment.
