Dublin's Stephen's Green Shopping Centre Gets Permission For €100M Revamp
A fund controlled by Davy is looking to capitalise on the resurgence of Dublin’s retail centre after winning planning permission for the €100M part-demolition and rejuvenation of the city’s Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre.
With permission granted to DTDL by Dublin City Council after the company submitted revised plans for the centre’s main entrance in March, the mixed-use scheme, designed by BKD Architects and O’Donnell + Tuomey, will have capacity to accommodate 3,000 office workers, while the retail floor area at the basement, ground- and first-floor levels will be nearly 205K SF.
Davy Real Estate had been expected to redevelop the Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre in Dublin's city centre after paying €175M for it on behalf of clients in 2019, but Covid and a downturn in retail delayed the original plans. The owner is now thought to want to improve the connections between the centre and King Street, St Stephen’s Green West and Grafton Street.
Retail was the largest transaction sector by market share in 2025 for the second consecutive year, accounting for 30% of volumes versus a 10-year average of 21%, data from CBRE showed. There were 37 retail deals in 2025, also making it the most popular sector by deal count.
The largest deal of last year was for a portfolio of eight major Irish retail parks — previously held by Oaktree Capital Management — which was acquired by U.S. investor Realty Income REIT in a €220M deal. Realty Income REIT also purchased the Trinity Collection, a portfolio of three parks located at Belgard (Tallaght), the M1 Retail Park in Drogheda and Poppyfield in Clonmel from developer Marlet Property Group and funding partner M&G Investment Partners for €123.5M.
More recently, Nutgrove Shopping Centre in south Dublin was put up for sale by Lanthorn for €27M, with the offer comprising control of the management company and the centre’s car park together with 66 of the 90 units within the scheme.
In total, the council received 61 submissions over the Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre — which was built in 1988 — with the majority opposed to the application and one objection backed by a petition of 20,000 signatures. However, the council planner’s report, recommending permission be granted, said “the applicant has chosen to retain the majority of the architectural design of the corner element as initially proposed.”
The council said the revised façade included provision of a canopy cover over the main entrance that will contribute to the creation of placemaking and said the applicant had “satisfactorily addressed the planning authorities’ concern regarding a lack of strong placemaking and urban design elements associated with the development.”
Underlining the scale of the proposal, the council has required the developer to pay development contributions of €4.2M towards public infrastructure and €1.3M towards the Luas Cross City scheme.
