A PLANNING application seeking to develop 21 build-to-rent apartments in Cork City, which will be ring-fenced for those aged 55 and over if given the go-ahead, has been lodged with Cork City Council.

The application, currently at pre-validation stage, has been lodged by Emerald Living and Ceancullig Investments Limited who are looking to develop the apartments at a site on Sharman Crawford Street.

“The proposed development includes for the demolition of the remainder of the former warehouse currently on site and the construction of 21 apartments in a building of seven storeys over flood defence measures, landscaping, bicycle storage, and all associated and ancillary site works and services,” a description of the proposed development reads.

In a planning statement submitted with the application, it states that the site of proposed development is located on the western side of Sharman Crawford Street.

The site is bound to the north by an existing four-storey mixed-use building comprising commercial use at ground floor and residential above, to the south by St Aloysius’ Secondary School, and to the west by the existing St Finbarr’s car park.

The site has been vacant since 2017 when the previous three-storey building on site was demolished.

It contains the partial remnants of that warehouse building that is proposed for demolition in the current planning application.

In the planning statement prepared by Cunnane Stratton Reynolds on behalf of Emerald Living and Ceancullig Investments Limited, it states that the apartments, if given the green light, “will be developed to cater for the needs of our ageing population within the city for whom there is a clear need to provide sustainable housing options”.

The planning statement includes data from Census 2016 which indicates that 26.4% of the population were aged 55+ in Cork city.

“This is higher than the relative comparison figures for Cork county, Munster or the State,” the planning statement says.