Masterplan approved for €500m redevelopment of key Limerick city site

Up to 290 residential units are included in the project alongside new office developments and a landmark tower development fronting onto the Shannon and a public realm that will create a fully connected and cohesive campus linking Cleeves to the city centre. There is the option to provide a further 275 student residential beds.

The estimated €500m project has a commitment of €35m already in place under the Urban Regeneration Development Fund (URDF). It will be the largest inner-city project ever undertaken in Limerick and one of the largest in the State. 

Its developer, Limerick Twenty Thirty, a special purpose vehicle established by Limerick City and County Council, will seek expressions of interest, in line with the masterplan, for individual elements of the project in early 2024. Planning applications will be submitted based on agreed expressions.

The Cleeves Riverside Quarter is one of Limerick’s most recognisable sites, synonymous for its 142ft red-bricked chimney stack, which remains the emblem for what was one of Ireland’s largest industrial sites of the 19th century, designed and built for up to 6,000 workers. It was home to the famous Cleeves Toffee and the Condensed Milk Company, which had 3,000 employees on its payroll and sourced its raw material from 3,000 farmers across Ireland. The site also has significant political heritage, having been one of the key locations for the Limerick Soviet of 1919.

Other iconic buildings on the site include the 15-bay, four-storey Flax Mill. The 170-year-old building will be one of the mainstays of the project, with its ground floor suggested as a restaurant and the floors being used as creative workspace/educational space.

Limerick Twenty Thirty CEO David Conway said the project has transformative potential for Limerick and the wider region. "It’s unique in so many ways and because of that mix, its regenerative potential is at a level that any city in Europe would covet. Its importance to Limerick’s future is such that we’ve gone about the masterplan painstakingly, with expert international architectural partners and in a true spirit of consultation with the city and, specifically, residents in this area."

"The output is a masterplan that goes way beyond finding a best use-case for the site. It is a pathway to create a truly world-class exemplar for a city of the future and how people can live, work and ad socialise sustainably in it. Of huge importance to us, too, was respecting its heritage and blending that into this future vision."

Limerick Twenty Thirty Chairman Conn Murray said the work done is an illustration of Limerick’s ambition. "We’re looking to the future, ensuring that we keep the momentum we’ve already gathered going. We are already rapidly advancing on our Opera Square project, with construction now underway on what is an iconic development on the south-side of the River Shannon. But we’re also very much in parallel working on this amazing opportunity on the north-side of the city," he said.