An Bord Pleanála has approved plans for a 240 bed student accommodation complex on the grounds of Westside Shopping Centre.
Westside Shopping Centre Limited has been granted planning permission to build a seven storey block of student accommodation on the Seamus Quirke Road.
The 0.54ha site of the project is located at the south-western corner of the shopping centre car park, which would also be realigned as part of this project.
The student beds will be grouped into 32 clusters of four to eight beds, with each cluster having its own kitchen, and living/dining spaces.
The complex will also include a café/takeaway at the ground floor level, as well as a plaza area on the east of the site.
The main part of the roof area will also form communal open spaces for the students.
The development will result in the loss of 94 parking spaces from the car park, with 238 remaining afterwards.
Dunnes Stores, the main tenant of Westside Shopping Centre, objected to the project on the grounds that the loss of parking would affect the viability of the district centre.
Planning permission for the project was granted by An Bord Pleanála with 21 conditions attached.
