At the second time of asking, developer Johnny Ronan has won planning permission to partially demolish and rebuild the north quays headquarters of Citi in Dublin’s International Financial Services Centre.

After Ronan Group Real Estate originally put forward a 17-storey scheme that was turned down by Dublin City Council in a decision upheld by An Coimisiún Pleanála, a rejigged design, submitted in December, reduced the mass and height of the project.

Under the revised proposals, the six-storey building at 1 North Wall Quay will still be almost doubled in height, with four new blocks of between seven to 12 storeys.

The planned redevelopment of 1 North Wall will see the new site have a gross floor area of up to 666K SF, including more than 570K SF of office space, according to the planning application submitted by John Spain Associates on behalf of Ronan Group.

RGRE is carrying out development of a new 459K SF European headquarters for Citi at the Waterfront South Central scheme. The new headquarters, set to be completed later this year, will be a 12-storey office with a triple basement.

The original 1 North Wall was completed in 2000 as the new headquarters for what was then Citibank, and RGRE bought it three years ago in a deal worth around €140M. As soon as Citi has moved to the new building, redevelopment work will commence at its current offices, subject to clearing any objections to An Coimisiún Pleanála.

A 10-year planning permission has now been granted for the redevelopment on the 2.2-acre site, with the new blocks ranging from seven to 12 storeys. The existing facades are to be removed. The new building will also include more than 7K SF of community space, 32 car parking spaces in the basement, down by 132 on the current provision, plus 718 bicycle spaces and a 2,600 SF community park with a pedestrian link.

RGRE will make a development contribution of €6.7M to the council, plus €2M in respect of Luas works.

“This is another good news day for the development of best-in-class commercial space in Dublin along the Liffey quays,” RGRE CEO Rory Williams said in a statement.