The Cork property market is thriving as never before. But it is bedevilled by the twin and apparently contradictory problems of lack of space and objections to proposed developments on the grounds that they are too big. Historically high sums of £160 per sq ft are being paid for Zone A retail space. Fast-food chain Supermacs is rumoured to have paid a premium of £500,000 for the former Burgerland premises on Patrick Street, the lease of which was recently acquired by Irish Nationwide.
It is generally expected that there will be strong opposition to the proposed £300 million Mahon Shopping Centre. The O'Callaghan Properties scheme will include 180,000 sq ft of retail space. A decision on planning for the centre is expected early in the New Year.
The proposed construction of a 400-bedroom hotel and conference centre on a £6 million site bounded by Cornmarket Street and Paul Street in the city centre, now the subject of a planning application, is also likely to be objected to on the grounds of scale. If it goes ahead, it will be the second largest hotel in Ireland after the Burlington.
RGDATA, Midleton UDC and Dunnes Stores are among the objectors to the proposed East Gate Development near the northern exit to the Lee Tunnel. This includes 3,000 sq m of retail and storage space and 90,000 sq ft of retail warehousing. The proposed extension to Wilton Shopping Centre is held up as a result of access difficulties, but work is expected to start next year.
A mixed £150 million residential, hotel and technology park development at Horgan's Quay is to go ahead. The project will involve a redevelopment of the city's main bus station at nearby Parnell Place.
Roger Flack of Hamilton Osborne King says that the development of new business parks around the city is very encouraging. Locations such as the RCI site at Mahon; Cork Airport Business Park; University Technology Park at Curraheen Road; and the business park portion of East Gate are all experiencing strong demand.
Office rentals of £9/£10 a sq ft are being achieved in the city, while at the business parks, rents of £10/£12 a sq ft are the norm.
Access needs to improve but it is easier now to drive into the city centre because of the Lee Tunnel. There are no less than seven multistorey car-parks in the city. The regional director of Lisney's, Margaret Kelleher, says that all retail space on Patrick Street is full. This is reflected in a relatively small number of transactions this year. The city centre retail area is concentrated but spreading. Milano, a food outlet which is part of the Pizza Express chain, will open at the lower end of Oliver Plunkett Street later this month. This is an area that would not have been considered by such a group even two years ago.
Esat Digifone paid a premium this year for the Cudmore's property at the junction of Patrick Street and Winthrop Street. Further up Patrick Street, the Early Learning Centre had not planned to close. But it received a £250,000 offer of key money from the Car Phone Warehouse, which it could not refuse.
