Limerick improvement projects

Glenomra

I was in Limerick City on Saturday evening, five to six. Very busy, great buzz in restaurants etc. Attributable to the fine weather or indicative of an improving city???

dominatinMC

Glenomra wrote: »

I was in Limerick City on Saturday evening, five to six. Very busy, great buzz in restaurants etc. Attributable to the fine weather or indicative of an improving city???

I'd say the latter. However, I'd temper that with the fact that the economy, in general, is doing well, so the increased buzz/nightlife which Limerick is currently experiencing is probably reflective of that. Limerick does seem to be going in the right direction all the same..

mdmix

dominatinMC wrote: »

I'd say the latter. However, I'd temper that with the fact that the economy, in general, is doing well, so the increased buzz/nightlife which Limerick is currently experiencing is probably reflective of that. Limerick does seem to be going in the right direction all the same..

there certainly is a noticeable improvement in footfall and atmosphere, but id agree its generally due to the improving Irish economy. very little has changed in the last 10 years and another recession would devastate Limerick more than any other city. hopefully things continue to improve over the next few years

damowill

It certainly is helped by an improving Irish economy. I'd say every second business opening is a cafe/pub/restaurant. The city has lots of choices in eateries, cafes, restaurants & pubs all which are bringing people into the city.

Arts & culture offerings have also improved with a many musuems & art galleries springing up over the last few years. Lots of mini festivals and events being held too which is nice to see. The Belltable has also reopened in the last 5 years or so, you have the Limetree while not City Centre, isnt far and also helps in bringing people to town.

Tourist numbers are definitively up as well...

Lots of positives but lots of work to be done imo

tototoe

mdmix wrote: »

another recession would devastate Limerick more than any other city.

It wouldnt help, but at this stage I can't see how it would be worse here than anywhere else tbh. there's a much better mix of industries and business than ever before. The big issue the last time, was DELL. The eggs are not all in one basket this time.

panda100

Glenomra wrote: »

I was in Limerick City on Saturday evening, five to six. Very busy, great buzz in restaurants etc. Attributable to the fine weather or indicative of an improving city???

Probably more to do with half term imo

zulutango

There's a lot more people living in the city centre too. And a lot of that is down to some big employers moving in in the last few years. Rents in the city, which were traditionally low are now on a par or higher than in the suburbs, and that's giving an economic incentive to landlords to refurbish and renovate. A lot of people who work in the likes of Uber and Glass Lewis and WP Engine have no interest in lengthy commutes to work. Quite a few previously vacant buildings, or buildings which were let as offices are now being turned into apartments. It all adds up to more life in the city centre.

James Bond Junior

I was in Cork last week for a few days and I was struck at how dirty and rundown its City centre buildings were. I know Limerick isn't perfect with vacant sites etc but buildings seem to be kept much better here than there.

Shn99

You better hope no corkonians watch this thread

James Bond Junior

Shn99 wrote: »

You better hope no corkonians watch this thread

I'm a Galwegian, my skin is thick enough in here!

Poxyshamrock

Speaking of living in town, a planning application has been submitted to convert Boru House on Mulgrave Street into a number of apartments.

Cookiemunster

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

Speaking of living in town, a planning application has been submitted to convert Boru House on Mulgrave Street into a number of apartments.

I'm not sure that counts as 'in town' really, but it would be good to see the building in use.

zulutango

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

Speaking of living in town, a planning application has been submitted to convert Boru House on Mulgrave Street into a number of apartments.

That's quite disappointing, considering there were grander plans for it a few years ago.

http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/Boru%20House%2019.pdf

http://www.patrickcomerford.com/2017/12/the-limerick-house-where-kate-obrien.html

mdmix

zulutango wrote: »

There's a lot more people living in the city centre too. And a lot of that is down to some big employers moving in in the last few years. Rents in the city, which were traditionally low are now on a par or higher than in the suburbs, and that's giving an economic incentive to landlords to refurbish and renovate.

Are there many properties being renovated? The Irish times did a write up 2 years ago of the Georgian renewal scheme that Michael Noonan brought in. You get a 100% tax credit for any refurbishment spend over 5 years. As of 2016 this hadn’t been used at all in Limerick. I know the commercial has been renovated and saw plans for another building being converted to offices, but haven’t seen any sign of work going on anywhere in town. great to hear Kate OBriens house is being done up, would love to hear if there are any buildings being brought back to life

zulutango

It's starting to happen. I could list about 10 properties in the environs of Catherine Street that are currently under renovation or have recently been.

The Living Cities initiative was flawed from the outset. It was only advantageous to fairly wealthy people who might want to live in the city centre. That's a very narrow demographic. And given that there is such a resistance to living in the city centre it isn't surprising that there wasn't any take up. Noonan, or whoever advised him, thought that you could stimulate renovations in one easy stroke. It isn't true, although I do know of people who have availed of the scheme recently.

What will make the city centre attractive to live in is good amenities, a safe and pleasant environment, cultural and recreational outlets and jobs in the city centre. There won't be wholescale renovation until these things are in place.

Arrival

What will make living in the center of the city attractive is apartments built and finished to a high, actually liveable standard. All homes built have central heating and good insulation yet it seems apartments are just left go ****. Horrible insulation, small, awful and expensive electric storage heaters etc.

Apartments should be as comfortable inside as a well built home. I don't understand why this is lost on Irish people. Apartments all over Europe are beautiful and cosy and comfortable and people have no issues buying them and living there for their lives and raising families in them which creates a permanent atmosphere within the city centres.

The Strand apartments are the only ones built to a high standard with all of the above. They're nice apartments, sure, but they're not some amazing, luxurious apartments. This should be what the basic standard home within a city centre of a rich country like Ireland should be.

zulutango

Yup. The standards are much better now than they used to be, but the current government has reduced them again in the last year unfortunately.

Quality of apartments isn't the only thing required to make city centre living attractive though. There's a whole heap of things as I mentioned above. We traditionally under-invest in our urban areas and we are then surprised when people don't want to live in them.

tweek84

Arrival wrote: »

What will make living in the center of the city attractive is apartments built and finished to a high, actually liveable standard. All homes built have central heating and good insulation yet it seems apartments are just left go ****. Horrible insulation, small, awful and expensive electric storage heaters etc.

Apartments should be as comfortable inside as a well built home. I don't understand why this is lost on Irish people. Apartments all over Europe are beautiful and cosy and comfortable and people have no issues buying them and living there for their lives and raising families in them which creates a permanent atmosphere within the city centres.

The Strand apartments are the only ones built to a high standard with all of the above. They're nice apartments, sure, but they're not some amazing, luxurious apartments. This should be what the basic standard home within a city centre of a rich country like Ireland should be.

Do apartments now have to meet high Ber ratings similar to houses or are they exempt?
District heating from industries would be the business....imagine getting free heating from Irish cement when they get the go ahead for the incinerator that would be great :D

zulutango

tweek84 wrote: »

Do apartments now have to meet high Ber ratings similar to houses or are they exempt?

Technically, no. But there is minimum standard that all new dwellings must adhere to.

The point of the BER is that the buyer is more informed when s/he purchases a home as to how energy efficient that home is. It's supposed to encourage people to purchase more efficient homes but I'm not sure there is any evidence that it has done that.

tweek84 wrote: »

District heating from industries would be the business....imagine getting free heating from Irish cement when they get the go ahead for the incinerator that would be great :D

It might help counteract the bad press anyway. I don't think district heating is on the cards however.

kilburn

Georgian buildings are a bottomless money pit to renovate if they are vacant a few years

zulutango

They are certainly very expensive to renovate, but if the values are increased then it makes financial sense to renovate them.

Arrival

zulutango wrote: »

Yup. The standards are much better now than they used to be, but the current government has reduced them again in the last year unfortunately.

Quality of apartments isn't the only thing required to make city centre living attractive though. There's a whole heap of things as I mentioned above. We traditionally under-invest in our urban areas and we are then surprised when people don't want to live in them.

Of course we require everything you listed but the priority should be getting a dense population permanently residing within the centre which increases the demand for businesses. Having all of those in the center with very few people to enjoy them and give them business until the population gradually increases is basically the opposite of how it should happen. Honestly, Limerick is a lovely city and we have incredible potential to create a beautiful city with the river as a focal point but we need to focus on not making the same mistakes as Dublin. Look at other cities throughout Europe and the world for ideas and inspiration, emulate the successful ones. The river at both sides should be lined with lovely apartment developments similar to River point, but built to a better standard (no central heating and **** insulation in these apartments, what the actual ****?) with retail/cafes/restaurants on the ground floor, similar to how House and Milano are at the moment. That area should be completely pedestrianised then as well. Behind these then, towards Henry Street, is where the centre should get real meaty with skyscrapers, not these feeble attempts at office buildings like the hanging gardens, to create a business district which would increase the number of people working within the very centre which directly impacts the economy positively.

Just imagine how nice the river in that area would look then, on both sides. It's already a lovely route to walk, but with this it would be beautiful. Rennovate or replace the Bridges then and light them up in a unique and attractive way to make them places people actually want to venture to.

zulutango

I mostly agree with you.

But we won't get fancy apartments until developers have a good reason to build them. A developer won't take the risk unless he is sure that he will make a profit. The longer the Council drags its heels on making improvements in the public realm and general environment, the slower development will be. Would the Strand apartments have been built (to that standard) if the upgrade works to Clancy Strand and O'Callaghan Strand weren't on the drawing board. I don't think so.

Anyone know what's happening up at Colbert Station? There's scaffolding up all around it at the moment.

lisasimpson

mart 23 wrote: »

Would the Homebase site be a suitable size for an M&S store .?

According to todays sindo M&S are expandimg in Ireland and are about to sign for a limerick location which will be both a food and clothing store. Unable to post link maybe someone else can

Shn99

https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/home/347106/marks-spencer-about-to-agree-new-store-location-for-limerick.html

chicorytip

There is one improvement project that ought to be implemented without delay and that is an overhaul of the city's water mains. This weekend has seen the third major breakage in the past eighteen months where hundreds of homes and businesses have been left completely without water for almost forty eight hours.

Cookiemunster

chicorytip wrote: »

There is one improvement project that ought to be implemented without delay and that is an overhaul of the city's water mains. This weekend has seen the third major breakage in the past eighteen months where hundreds of homes and businesses have been left completely without water for almost forty eight hours.

That's a nationwide issue caused by decades of neglect by national and local government. The creation of Irish water was a good first step to rectifying this, however it's a slow process to replace every old pipe nationwide and they weren't helped by the cancellation of water charges starving them of resources.

And before you say we pay enough taxes, we don't.

chicorytip

Cookiemunster wrote:

And before you say we pay enough taxes, we don't.

We do and water charges are/were a form of double taxation imposed on those already paying LPT or commercial rates.

pigtown

There's a planning application for approximately 120 houses and apartments for College Rd Castletroy. I think it's the site next to Castletroy College

Cookiemunster

chicorytip wrote: »

We do and water charges are/were a form of double taxation imposed on those already paying LPT or commercial rates.

Try and find another European country where they don't pay for their water by usage. They also pay direct income taxes and property taxes. People in this country are fooling themselves about how much tax we pay. They want Scandinavian style services while paying American style taxes.