An overview of the construction projects underway - and one that is still not - in Cork 

With a host of developments underway or in the pipline in Cork, reporter Martin Mongan examined the various projects and their impact on the city and county. He also took a look at one infamous project that is yet to get underway.

The Events Centre 

The chief executive of Cork City Council told The Echo recently that she believes the long-awaited event centre will be up and running within three years, in time for the 10th anniversary of the plans.

Ann Doherty, Cork City Council chief executive, said she “absolutely” believes the event centre would be in situ by 2026.

The project would likely have a construction period of approximately two years at this stage, and Ms Doherty said there had always been “gateways” in the project, milestones at which decisions had to be made.

“We’re now at that final milestone, so what will the final costs be, and there will be a decision that needs to be taken and I can’t tell you what the final cost is going to be because I actually don’t have it,” she said.

Ms Doherty warned that the final cost of the event centre would be impacted by price inflation in the construction industry.

Recently, Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney described as “an investment in the future” almost €1.5m of public money which has already been spent on Cork’s long-delayed event centre, despite not one brick being laid.

Spending records, released under Freedom of Information (FoI) legislation, show that between April 2014 and May 2023, a total of €1,492,178.64 has been spent on the project, with €1m provided by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport, and Media.

Stating that the event centre was “pretty close now to … starting in terms of physical construction”, Mr Coveney said that ultimately the event centre would probably cost about €100m in public and private funds.

Almost ten years ago, then-taoiseach Enda Kenny turned the sod on what was then dubbed the €50m Event Centre for Cork. At the time, it followed confirmation by BAM Ireland that it had acquired the historic former Beamish and Crawford brewery site from Heineken.

The 6,000 seater multi-purpose venue was initially expected to be completed in 2018 and was expected to employ around 400 people during construction.

Since then, the project had to work through many obstacles such as the covid-19 pandemic, price inflation, and impacts on the events industry.

“What’s important is that we have Live Nation on board who are the number one live entertainment company in the world, so great kudos to Cork to attract them,” Ms Doherty told The Echo in a recent interview.

“Obviously Live Nation are the owners of the event centre, and from their perspective, there’s none like it in the world, it is a venue that has never been created before according to the Live Nation personnel,” Ms Doherty said.

She said Live Nation had just completed the detailed design and was finalising pricing, “and then that will come to us and then we will be validating that”.

Ms Doherty added that it was important that people understood this was not a capital project being delivered by the State, but rather it was a capital project being delivered by a consortium with some State funding.

Ms Doherty stated that in making the business case for the event centre, it was important to understand that it had the potential to offer a huge return to the exchequer from all of “the tax-paying employees and rate-paying businesses that will develop, and then from all those visitors that will come and spend their money in the city”.

753 houses in Cork pipeline

TÁNAISTE Micheál Martin, alongside Minister for Finance Michael McGrath, recently turned the sod on a €9m infrastructure project in Ballyvolane which will “pave the way for 753 new homes in Cork city.” 

The new homes will be built across six new neighbourhoods and the infrastructure work is being delivered by the Housing Infrastructure Services Company (HISCo) — a commercial joint venture between the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) and Cork County Council to build supporting infrastructure for housing.

Mr Martin believes the project is “hugely significant” for the city and will ensure the delivery of “much needed” housing only 4km from the city centre.

“As one of the largest housing developments to ever commence in the history of Cork city, this project points to the building momentum we’re now seeing in the delivery of housing,” he continued.

Mr Martin paid tribute to HISCo for undertaking this project builds on the success that it has had to date in assisting to deliver thousands of homes across Ireland”.

HISCo’s objective is to deliver infrastructure that is holding up the delivery of much-needed residential accommodation throughout the country, where there is no state funding available to deliver the infrastructure in question.

The company provides a design-build-finance service for both on-site and off-site infrastructure that facilitates residential development.

It recovers its investment via an infrastructure fee only payable on the sale or first lease of each individual unit.

Speaking about the project in Ballyvolane, Mr McGrath said it “unlocks residential development land” for the construction of the 753 new homes".

“These investments are important elements of ISIF’s overall Impact Strategy which focuses on long-term transformational investments addressing key strategic challenges facing the country.

“The investment builds on ISIF’s existing housing investment programme where over €1bn has been committed to commercial investments that are expected to deliver more than 25,000 new homes for owner-occupiers, renters and those in need of social or affordable housing,” Mr McGrath added.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien said HISCo’s model is “seeing results now at scale around the country”.

“The model that HISCo have made available to housebuilders in conjunction with partners, like Longview Estates Ltd in this instance; is a blueprint for how we can deliver housing at scale across the country,” he added.

The project has been described as “exciting” by the CEO of HISCo Niall Morrissey.

“Cork County Council and ISIF deserve enormous credit for establishing HISCo with the objective of tackling the challenge that critical infrastructure poses for the delivery of residential development,” he said.

It is unknown as to when the housing units will be delivered but all involved hope the construction will be completed in a “timely fashion.” Initially when plans were submitted it was described by many as “an exciting project” of “critical importance.” Speaking to The Echo in 2020, Independent councillor Ger Keohane said that it was “an exciting project” but adequate transport infrastructure needed to be looked at.

Both the Cork Business Association and Cork Chamber welcomed the plans at that time.

Planning permission approved Patrick Street premises

Cork City Council has approved planning per mission for a vacant premises on Patrick Street.

The permission green-lights the change the use of the ground floor of the premises from a retail unit, which is currently vacant, to a sand wich bar with a takeaway service.

The plans also granted permission for break fast bar seating, a service area and all ancillary areas, external signage and all associated works to the ground floor of the building.

The unit is located at 124 St Patrick Street, alongside the Tourist Information Centre and shoe shop Schuh.

The planning permission is subject to 14 con ditions.

The application was lodged on April 24 this year and the decision was made on July 19.

Last year, Cork Business Association (CBA) president Kevin Herlihy said that, while new tenants and developments are welcome, the street itself is yet to live up to its true potential.

He was speaking about the rejuvenation of Cork City centre which is seeing the introduc tion of retail stores such as The North Face, which sells outdoor clothing and accessories, and shoe and accessories franchise Dune Lon don.

Speaking at the time, Mr Herlihy said that bringing vacant retail properties back into use could make a huge difference to the city.

“Seeing the transformation happen will be great for Cork City as a whole.

“Not only will it reduce dereliction, it will also make Cork City a more vibrant place to shop, eat or [for people to] just to live their lives in general.” Also, the old Debenhams building on St Pa trick’s Street was acquired by Elverys Sports earlier this year.

The building, which was home to Roches Stores for many decades, was leased to Deben hams in 2006, and the department store oper ated out of the site for more than a decade.

The sports retailer said they hope to offi cially open their doors in late 2023.

The opening of their new flagship store is also expected to create several full-time and part-time employment opportunities.

New development on Hollyhill campus shows Apple’s commitment to Cork

WORK is well underway at Apple Cork for the construction of a new office development at the Hollyhill campus.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney visited the Apple campus earlier this month, where Apple has in vested over €250m into expanding the Cork op eration over the past five years.

In April 2022, Apple opened a new multi-mil lion euro engineering and test facility at its campus in Hollyhill. The new building has ca pacity for up to 1,300 employees, which will pro vide valuable job opportunities.

Mr Varadkar said the new development shows that the company is “very committed to Cork”.

Cathy Kearney, VP European operations, Apple, said: “We’re proud to be part of the thriving community in Cork and our teams here are continuing to innovate in service of our customers.

"Over the past five years, Apple has invested over €250m, expanding our Hollyhill campus for our growing team.

“We’re pleased to welcome the Taoiseach to our new state of the art engineering and test fa cility and to highlight our plans for continued expansion.” Apple came to Cork in 1980 and quickly be came a site for global talent to further their ca reers.

The company acts as a holding company for a number of Apple subsidiaries.

The manufacturing line at Hollyhill produces bespoke iMacs tailored to a customer’s preferred specification.

The directors state that the group has inter national operations with sales outside Ireland representing a majority of the group’s net sales.

Apple’s Cork base employs over 6,000 employees representing more than 90 nationalities.

Decision on proposed pizza restaurant in Glanmire due September 27 

An Bord Pleanála’s decision on the proposed change of use of a premises in Glanmire into a Domino’s pizza fast-food restaurant is due on September 27.

Maano Foods (Cork) Limited lodged plans with Cork City Council on January 17 this year to seek planning permission for the change of use of an existing financial services premises into a Domino’s at Unit 3, Hazelwood Shopping Centre in Glanmire. Cork City Council granted permission for the development on May 9, subject to 16 conditions. The application was met with concerns from a local resident who feels there is already an “over saturation” of fast-food style outlets in Glanmire.

“In the Hazelwood/Crestfield Centre alone, there are at least eight premises out of approximately 40 which offer this nature of service which means 20 per cent of all businesses in the principal commercial centre for Glanmire are takeaway businesses.

“There are three businesses that offer hot freshly made pizzas of the same type as Dominos. This concentration of a singular type of service does not concur with property planning and development in the area,” stated the resident, citing the Cork City Development Plan 2022 – 2028.

Also, the resident said that businesses in Glanmire are car-dependent and parking spots “tends to be in short supply at times.” The resident also acknowledged that parking in the area is scarce.

“There is no parking directly outside the premises, and the situation regarding land ownership dictates this situation cannot change, and while there is parking within the centre, this tends to be in short supply at times. 

"Should the change of use be permitted under the applicant’s proposals, human nature is such that cars will tend to get double parked directly outside the premises leading to gridlock.” 

Cork City Council’s decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanála on May 25 and their decision is due next month.

Additional information sought in Marina Market application 

The future of Cork’s Marina Market is still unknown as city planners requested additional information before deciding on the latest planning application.

CPR Properties Cork lodged a fresh planning application with Cork City Council seeking permission to continue to use the former Southern Fruits Distribution Company warehouse as a market/food emporium over a five-year period.

Their application also seeks other proposals for additional market units, the provision of 44 bicycle parking spaces and the rationalisation of the existing car park.

Previously sought planning permission was turned down last November, which led to several amendments addressing previous planning concerns.

The decision was expected in early July, but it was delayed as Cork City Council submitted a request for additional information.

In that request, the city council said the proposal to remove outdoor seating was considered a “reasonable approach”, given the Health and Safety Authority’s (HSA’s) guidance in relation to developments near the Goulding Chemicals site.

However, it said “greater clarity/certainty is required” to limit the internal market floor space to a maximum of 5,000 sq m. Among the points in the request for further information were lingering concerns around access to the market.

The request also cited a need for additional information in relation to access to the market.

“The previous application was refused on the grounds of increased risk of pedestrian conflict on Kennedy Quay.

“The current application has removed the Kennedy Quay access and the development is to be accessed via Marina Walk.

“Wayfinding signage has been proposed to discourage the use of Kennedy Quay via Mill Walk and/Furlong St as an access point. It is proposed that the existing access off Kennedy Quay is closed to general public access but will remain in use as a gated access for refuse collection and deliveries.” A major concern cited is the gate being left open which may lead to pedestrians and vehicles using the route. “The applicant is advised that the Kennedy Quay access should be permanently closed to all vehicles.

The applicants have six months to submit the information the council requires.

CUH extension plan decision due in October 

Plans for the extension of the emergency department (ED) at Cork University Hospital (CUH) will be decided by October 26.

The plans were approved by Cork City Council, however but subsequently appealed to An Bord Pleanála. The Health Service Executive – South (HSE) lodged the planning application to Cork City Council on April 6 this year to get the go-ahead to build a two-storey extension to the existing emergency department at CUH.

Plans consist of a two-storey extension, and a provision of a new plant room on the roof of the new extension.

The proposals also consisted of alterations to the set down car parking area serving the Glandore Centre, as well as the installation of a dedicated underground decontamination waste holding tank and all ancillary works needed to complete the construction.

The plans attracted a number of observations and submissions from local residents, and the likes of Irish Water and the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA).

An IAA official submitted that the applicant “should be required to engage with the HSE to undertake a preliminary screening assessment to confirm that the proposed development and any associated cranes that would be utilised during its construction would have no impact on the safety of Helicopter operations in the vicinity of Cork University Hospital.” Local residents submitted to Cork City Council that the developments would impact their property due to its size and noise pollution.

Concerns centred on the safety of the decontamination waste holding tank, and its proximity to residents on the Wilton Road.

“When the existing A&E was opened in 2005, there was extreme noise coming from the plant room. It was discovered that it was coming from the fan in the decontamination room,” wrote the residents. They suggested that the wall facing the houses on the Wilton Road should be sound proofed.

“Having viewed the plans for the extension, I failed to see where the fan vents are going to be situated,” added the residents.

Cork City Council granted planning permission on May 31, subject to nine conditions.

However, this decision was appealed subsequently to An Bord Pleanála. A case decision is due by October 26 next.