THE FORMER ROYAL City of Dublin Hospital on Baggot Street is up for sale.

The historic building which dates back to 1831 has been lying vacant since 2019, when the HSE ceased its operations there.

The HSE will keep the Haddington Road side of the site. It has applied for planning permission to turn it into a primary care centre.

Brian O’Connell, the HSE’s director of health infrastructure, said they decided to sell a large part of the hospital as it wasn’t needed by the HSE and no other state agency expressed interest in taking it over.  

“The sale of the main Baggot Steet Hospital Building will facilitate the redevelopment of these historic buildings that are not conductive to modern healthcare provision,” he said.

The front of the hospital Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The new primary care centre will include “a range of community-based health and social care services under one roof”. This means more GPs for locals, as well as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, social work, and other supports.

This is subject to planning permission being granted.

Set on about half an acre, the hospital’s buildings span over 5,000 square metres.

With the way the property is zoned, it could be turned into a hotel, apartments or an embassy building.

The original hospital closed in 1987 after its main operations were transferred to St James’s Hospital.

The site functioned as a treatment facility for those with addiction issues until 2019 when it was closed due to the building’s condition and age.

The Haddington Road part of the premises was used as a drug treatment and community facility until 2019.

As of April this year, it was one of the 234 vacant properties under the HSE’s control.