Marina Market the perfect location for Cork events centre, says developer ‘ 

Cork developer Tom Coughlan is convinced his Marina Market location in the heart of the Docklands is the right location for the city’s long-awaited events centre.

The property owner said the development of such an asset remains a key requirement for the city, allowing it to attract concerts, conferences, and other events.

Plans for such a venue were first put in place 18 years ago, but have suffered a series of setbacks and false starts. A new tendering process is now in place with Cork City Council partnering with management firm Aecom to get the project over the line.

The proposal by BAM to develop an arena on the former Beamish brewery site on South Main Street remains the most prominent, but Coughlan is also engaging in the process and has set out his stall for a potential conference venue at the Marina Market.

The hugely popular open food hall he established during the pandemic is part of a large property portfolio he runs through Urban Green Private.

“I believe the need is for about a 4000-5,000 seater,” he said.

“We’re not going any bigger than that, and it’s not going to do the biggest concerts, but it’s going to do a lot of other stuff.”

Engaged

His team worked with London-based Níall McLaughlin Architects on their vision for the site and engaged with live entertainment company AEG which owns and operates some of the biggest arenas across Europe, including the O2 in London.

Coughlan, a civil engineer by training, said he was not critical of other proposals, but said the Marina has practical advantages, chief among them logistics, pointing out that a touring production or a major concert requires heavy goods vehicles, staging equipment, and crew to arrive days in advance.

“We have three access points here,” he said. 

“The infrastructural ability to deliver that in the city without causing disruption is just not there. This is a better site.”

A venue in the 4,000- to 5,000-seat range, he argues, is large enough to be commercially viable but intimate enough to generate atmosphere, and crucially, to keep the cost base manageable.

Beyond concerts, he said, the gap he most wants to fill is in the conference and convention market.

Strategic partners

He estimated the project would cost in the region of €100m, and acknowledged he would need to bring in strategic partners to deliver it. He said he has held talks with a number of potential operators, including international promotions giant AEG.

Coughlan said he envisages Cork City Council taking a long-term stakeholding role in whatever is eventually built, and is insistent that the project should have a distinctly local identity, with Cork stakeholders driving programming decisions.

“Cork versus the rest,” he said.

“You need a Cork interest. You put your hand up and fight for it yourself, and Cork is well able to do that.”

For now, the formal tendering process will determine whether his Marina vision gets the hearing he believes it deserves.

“Speed would be important,” he said. “We’d love to get cracking.”