THE first phase of a major residential development on the site of the former St Kevin’s Hospital has gone out to tender.

The St Kevin’s Hospital development is a key strategic project located in Shanakiel and is part of the Land Development Agency’s (LDA) wider mandate to develop a range of housing options, including affordable sale, cost rental and social housing.

Planning permission for the strategic housing development (SHD) which consists of 266 homes, an enterprise centre and crèche facilities at the former hospital site, was granted back in April.

The development will consist of a mix of houses and duplex apartments including one, two, three and four-bedroom homes.

The LDA has previously stated that the primary focus of the development will be social and affordable housing and the majority of houses will fit that criteria.

Delivery of the scheme is to be sequenced on a phased basis.

The St Kevin’s Hospital phase one development will deliver 97 new homes, comprising a mix of 37 three and four-bed terraced houses, 30 duplex ground floor apartments, 30 duplex upper townhouses, all ranging in height from two to three storeys.

The new neighbourhood will provide ‘homezones’, on-street parking, tree planting, and open spaces that claim to seamlessly connect throughout the development.

The LDA has said its vision is to transform the defunct and derelict former Victorian Mental Asylum lands “into a new vibrant residential community for the people of Cork”.

It noted that St Kevin’s Hospital has been “a location for a challenging social history that we in Ireland have been trying to redress for decades”.

“Now we have an opportunity to take this site that was once the centre of institutional care and transform it into a place where people can live, children can play, and there are homes for all stages of life,” it added.

The tender submission deadline is January 28, 2022.