Walk the streets of Cork, and in many ways it will feel like walking through a time capsule. Sure, the city centre is as busy as ever, and a large number of previously empty shops have been filled again, but the streetscape itself hasn’t evolved significantly for about a decade. Of course, most of this is down to the economic meltdown of 2008, which paralysed development in the city. And, while the recovery has securely taken hold in Dublin by now, it has taken quite some time for this trend to filter down to Cork. However, it is fair to say that things are finally on the up here in Cork. Three projects in particular have been announced or come to the surface over the last few weeks.
Albert Quay Office Development
Website: n/a
Back in Spring 2014, a huge debate was ongoing about the location of the much-needed Events Centre, the two competing sites being the former Beamish & Crawford brewery site, and a large site on Albert Quay in the Cork docklands. I wrote about this debate in my first article on developments in Cork. The decision went in favour of the Beamish&Crawford site, backed by brewery giant Heineken and BAM construction. The Albert Quay site pretty much slipped back into obscurity, while a few other projects went ahead throughout the city.
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| This will be the site of the planned new development. Please excuse the containers, due to the inconspicuous nature of the site, I don't have any clearer images. |
Until now. About a week ago, O’Callaghan Properties, the company behind the Events Centre site in the docklands, announced that they were applying for planning permission for a large office complex on the site originally set aside for the failed bit. And whatever you may think about O’Callaghan, you certainly can’t accuse them of planning small. The site, framed by two pubs, the Idle Hour, and the Sextant (This is Ireland, after all), will sport four buildings, providing 360,000 square feet (33,445 square metres) of office & retail space, with the buildings being between 5 and 6 stories high. 330 underground parking spaces will also be provided. The site could potentially provide working spaces for up to 3000 employees.
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| The size of the site only becomes apparent from above. |
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| Listed buildings, like Navigation House, will be integrated into the new building. Of course, that means that Nightmare Realm will have to find a new home, but don't worry. Given the driving skills on show here in Cork, there will still be more than enough horror! |
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| The project will give the eastern end of the city a completely new look. |
There is still a question mark behind this project, as it is still in the early stages of planning, however this project, worth €90 million would be a huge step forward in kickstarting the rejuvenation of the docklands on the South Bank of the River Lee. One thing is pretty certain though: No developer would go ahead with such a project these days without having at least one major tenant lined up. It will remain to be seen who that is.
Anderson’s Quay
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| Not much to look at these days. That's rush hour traffic in Cork by the way. |
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| The other side, seen from the bus station, doesn't look much better. |
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| The site is right next to the bus station, as seen on this photo. |
The southern tip of Cork city centre, between Parnell Place and Customs House Quay, can best be described as a schizophrenic area. On one side, you have Celtic Tiger era hotel and office developments along Lapp’s Quay, namely City Quarter, on the other side, you have crumbling, empty animal homes, or the homeless shelter run by the Cork Simon community. Right next to that, there’s Parnell Place Bus Station, first stop for many backpackers and visitor coming into Cork. Talk about a welcoming sight.
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| The flowing, rounded design of the new development will certainly be an improvement. |
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| The height isn't too imposing either, this could really transform that part of the city. |
After a first development planned for the animal shelter site went under in the turbulence of the 2008 meltdown, the site has remained mostly empty. Only recently, a new project on that prominent site next to the bus station surfaced. Simply named Anderson’s Quay after the quayside on which it will ist, the plans call for a five story office complex offering roughly 16,000 square metres of floor space. 70 spaces will be made available in an underground car park on the site, though you’d have to be suicidal to drive to that part of the city, given the amounts of traffic. The company behind this new development is, once again, O’Callaghan Properties, the guys behind the Albert Quay development I mentioned above. Given the smaller footprint of Anderson’s Quay, I’m quite optimistic that tenants will be found quickly.
Trinity Quarter
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| The current site really isn't much to look at. |
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| Overview of the entire site. Doesn't look much better if you ask me. |
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| There are worse sights than an old stone wall, but in this case not many.... |
There’s something oddly appropriate about ending a quick rundown of three new developments in Cork with a project called Trinity Quarter. This development will be built on a site bounded by South Terrace, Copley Street and Union Quay. First plans for this site had been floated as early as 2014, however, these plans disappeared as quickly as they had surfaced. Recently, Trinity Quarter has come to the fore again, now under its current name. The location in itself is interesting, the area south of the River Lee has seen precious little development apart from the Anglesea Street area, although I do have to question the wisdom of choosing that particular spot, given how prone the South Channel is to flooding.
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| The new building will definitely be an improvement. Interesting design, by the way. |
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| I'm not quite so sure whether the road at Union Quay will be turned into a bike lane, though. |
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| The sides seem a bit more understated. |
Once again, the development statistics make for nice reading. Five stories arranged around a courtyard, 76 underground parking spaces, LEED Gold certification, ample ground level retail space, all that sounds nice, and will definitely be an improvement over the current condition of the site. However, I am less confident about the developer behind this, a company known as Watfore Limited. The company seems to have been founded specifically do get Trinity Quarter of the ground, with no trace of other projects, and even the company itself only coming into existence in 2014. This does not instill a lot of confidence in me, I hope that my scepticism is misplaced, however.
Project Updates:
A number of the projects I mentioned back in my 2014 article have since gotten of the ground and are in various stages of completion. In addition, one new project has recently gotten going and is forging ahead quite rapidly. I will only concentrate on projects within the city centre/downtown area of Cork, simply for logistical reasons, those areas are the easiest to reach for me. So if you’re looking for images of the new Port of Cork container terminal in Ringaskiddy, or the never-ending story that is Páirc uí Chaoimh, the local GAA stomping ground, you’re gonna have to look elsewhere.
One Albert Quay
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| And there it is. One Albert Quay in all its glory. |
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| Is it just me, or does the old station building of the Cork, Bandon, & South Coast Railway seem much more integrated since the old sheds disappeared? |
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| Almost all support structures are internal, making the outside look almost weightless. |
This is going to be a short one. A little over a year after it was announced, this six story complex, the first new office development since the economic crisis, has been welcoming its first tenants since February. The building, which houses the European HQ of Tyco Electronics, as well as offices of consulting firm PWC and software company Malwarebytes, stands on the grounds of the goods sheds of the former Cork, Bandon & South Coast Railway. The station building itself still stands next door. It has given the area a completely new look, and, once fully staffed and operational, will definitely change that part of the city.
The Capitol
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| Not much change at the Capitol site from this perspective. |
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| Wait a minute, something's missing here. |
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| The Patrick Street site has been almost completely cleared. |
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| There's also much less left of the cinema than I thought. They really aren't taking any prisoners here! |
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| This laneway to the English Market will be widened and made much more hospitable than it used to be. |
This project came as a huge surprise to almost everyone when it was announced back in March 2015. A brainchild of John Cleary Developments, like One Albert Quay, this building may not be the largest, but it is certainly the most ambitious project currently underway in the city. This is mainly due to the fact that it is right in the heart of the city, straddled by the English Market, Patrick Street, and Grand Parade, as well as being a major part of the cultural fabric of the city as well. Progress was held up for quite a while due to objections against the project by local traders in the English Market as well as An Taisce, the National Trust for Ireland, however, it finally got going in January 2016. Since then, demolition has been swift, and the whole site will probably be cleared in one to two months time. There may not be any major tenants announced yet, however removing the eyesore of the old Capitol Cineplex itself will already be a major improvement.
New Entrance - Kent Station
Website: n/a
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| The new access to Kent Station. A new road, including bike lane will be built to access it. No word yet about an extra Coke Zero Bikes station here, though. |
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| The Access Buildings have been downsized massively. They will lead to an access tunnel to the platforms. |
Quite easily the smallest current construction project in the city, but nonetheless vital, this project aims to provide a more direct link between Corks Kent Station and the city centre, by enabling access to the station from Horgan’s Quay, instead of the current longer, and more strenuous access via Lower Glanmire Road. For quite some time, Irish Rail took a page out of the Deutsche Bahn playbook, and delayed this project several time. However, by July 2015, work on this new access, which will also entail building a completely new access road, had started. Getting exact details on the project status is quite hard, in fact, it’s probably easier to get in contact with the press officer at Groom Lake Air Force Base (Area 51). Still, from walking and cycling past the site a few times, the project seems to be pretty much on schedule, and I’d expect the project to be opened more or less on time in late summer 2016.
Events Centre/Brewery Quarter
Website: n/a
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| The shape of things to come... |
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| ... and the first small steps towards it. |
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| Construction hoarding going up around a warehouse on the Brewery Quarter site. Looks like they're finally getting going. |
Aaah, the never-ending story! I can’t think of another project that has been the aim of so much speculation, anxiety, and ridicule. Everything seemed fine when the decision was made to proceed with the development of an Events Centre on the Beamish & Crawford site in the city centre. However, once the excitement of the decision had faded, so did any information about the project. Ironically, only the Minister for Defence, Simon Coveney, gave any indication that the project was still alive, even though his regular pleas to remain patient soon became the butt of jokes in their own right. Then, a week before the parliamentary election here in Ireland, the project was finally officially launched. So far, the only work taking place on site is preparation for the demolition of the non-listed buildings, but at least there’s movement.
Why only retail and offices?
The subheading pretty much says it all. Why are all the projects that have been covered in this article centred around retail and office use? Rents are skyrocketing here in Cork, so why not simply build apartments? That is absolutely a great question, the fact is that the housing market in Ireland is still very much in turmoil. There’s an incredible number of ghost estates dotted around the country, with significant questions as to whether they can all be finished. Then, there’s the issue of mortgages in arrears which means that banks will be very cautions about giving out financing for new residential projects. And then, there’s the peculiarities of the Irish housing market. First of all, there seems to be a genetic disposition against apartments, with many Irish preferring to commute for hours just to get their hands on a semi-detached house with a postage sized garden. And secondly, renting is considered to be a dirty deed here in Ireland. People will do everything to buy their own home, even when renting would be a cheaper alternative. Okay, the situation here in Cork can’t really be compared to much of the other regions of Ireland, with the proliferation of multinational companies drawing an ever-increasing number of young, single professionals to the city, creating a higher demand for apartments than in the bogs of Kerry, for example. However, major investors still don’t trust the housing market and are unwilling to invest, and unless that changes, or the plans to convert Ireland’s bad bank, NAMA, into a housing agency come to fruition, I can’t see the current housing situation changing.
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