LONG-awaited developments look set to breathe new life into Cork city centre in the coming months and years with multinational companies eyeing up the city.
Ann Doherty
In the two years since Ann Doherty took on the role of chief executive of Cork City Council, the former HSE senior official has witnessed a sea change as confidence returned to the city. Property developers and multinational businesses are enjoying a boost, as are many smaller, local businesses.
Post-Brexit enquiries suggest the city could be in for a bumper few years if proposed projects get the backing they require. Confidence is key and Cork is brimming with it, according to the Chief Executive.
Ms Doherty, who pointed to One Albert Quay as a catalyst for the city’s current wave of development.
“A lot of the things that are currently happening were in gestation for a long time but I think one of the signature events in the city was One Albert Quay. That really brought back confidence to Cork — to get a global headquarters for such a huge company into the city centre was really important. It has been the catalyst,” she said.
“But it is also about timing. Lots of the projects were long in the thought process and are coming to fruition. There are many more waiting to line up behind them. Over the next six months, we will see the next step in terms of investment confidence in the city.”
One Albert Quay. Picture: Larry Cummins
Recent announcements indicate a resurgence in interest in the city’s docklands. Developers Clarendon Properties and BAM have a seven-year window to break ground on the Horgan’s Quay site that has long awaited development, while Owen O’Callaghan will learn the outcome of a planning application for a €90m project for Albert Quay in the coming weeks. Ms Doherty said there is likely to be even further progress in the area in the coming months.
“There is a planning application for Owen O’Callaghan’s project on Albert Quay. Once that starts going through, we will see confidence on the next one, and the next one. At the other end of the Docklands, we can see the stadium is already out of the ground and that will inspire confidence from that way up,” she said.
“Cork City Council also has money from the Urban Grants Scheme for the development of Marina Park, and we will be going out for people to work with us on design that towards the end of the year. I think all of those things start bringing more — all you need is a catalyst and then you see a ripple effect in these areas.”
Despite the positive moves in most areas in the city, Ms Doherty stressed the city is not in a position to manage the development on its own. Private market forces are needed to propose and manage many projects. This is the case with two of the city’s most historically significant buildings, which are both set to be bought privately.
The Custom House, Building, currently owned by the Port of Cork, is for sale with a guiding price of €7m. Cork City Council will not be in the running to buy the building, Ms Doherty confirmed. “We don’t have the resources to buy that building. Where would we get the resources? We need to work with the raw material that we have before we buy any more.”
Cork Savings Bank building. Picture: Larry Cummins
Elected members of the City Council had hoped the city would intervene in the sale in the same fashion it did with the former Savings Bank on Lapp’s Quay. Bought in 2014, the Council maintained the structure before selling it on to UCC in recent weeks. It will be used as part of the University’s new flagship business school. But Ms Doherty said, though, it just isn’t possible to do the same when it comes to the Port of Cork’s building.
“It is a different type of offering to the bank, and I don’t think intervening in the same way would be a realisable goal from our perspective. But we are very happy to partner with whoever happens to buy it,” she said.
“We have a vision for that part of the city as part of the overall development of the city but just because we have the vision doesn’t mean we have to do it on our own. It is a matter of managing resources when it comes to deals like these, the chief executive said.
“It wasn’t a failure that we sold the bank. We bought the bank because it was the right thing to do for the city. When there is market failure, we need to step in and try to resolve it.
“We then worked with different ideas about what could be done with it. We have to go to the open market to progress it, but I think we have gotten a great solution.”
She welcomed the potential influx of private investment and ideas to the market, insisting that it can only add further to the city’s offering in the future.
“There is so much potential. But we do need to let the market bring forward ideas about what can be done — there is entrepreneurial and international thinking as well as local and national thinking that can come together to bring something very unique to Cork and we shouldn’t miss out on that opportunity.”
An Taoiseach Enda Kenny with Tániste Joan Burton and Theo Cullinane BAM at the official sod turning for the new Events Centre. Picture: Des Barry
Not all the city’s developments have moved at the same rapid pace as the docklands or the Capitol, though, with little progress evident at the Beamish & Crawford redevelopment on South Main Street.
Despite a sod-turning by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny in February, construction has yet to start on the long-awaited event centre six months later. Ms Doherty moved to quell fears about the development, though.
“We’re very fortunate to have BAM and Live Nation as two partners but, equally importantly, we have central and local government coming together to support the project because of its strategic importance for the city and the entire region. I would love it moved faster, but we need to be careful that we get it right rather than just being fast.”
The ‘complex’ design of the event centre has been noted as the reason for slow progress, but other plans for the site — including apartments — may be seen sooner rather than later. “The Beamish site has other things happening on it as well and we would expect to see some of these moving in the next couple of months.”
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