Work begins on one of Cork city's largest apartment developments
Computer-generated image of the planned new housing development by Glenveagh Properties on the Live at the Marquee site. Pederson Focus
Work is beginning this week on one of the largest apartment developments in Cork which will see more than 1,000 dockland apartments built in the city’s Marina Quarter.
Located on a 5-hectare parcel of land, the development at the former Ford Distribution site is among one of the most ambitious ever proposed so close to the city centre.
The proposal by Marina Quarter Ltd and backed by Glenveagh Properties involves the construction of 12 apartment blocks, some up to 14 storeys in height, targeted at the build-to-rent sector.
The company has published construction commencement notices for the overall development indicating work is to commence this week. Decontamination work has been taking place at the former Live at the Marquee site for a number of months.
The development site was bought in 2018 by Glenveagh Properties for a sum understood to be around €15m, almost double the asking price of €8.5m.
Speaking to the earlier this year, Stephen Garvey, chief executive of Glenveagh, said that the Marquee site was undergoing decontamination.
"The likelihood is we'd be working with a State agency on that development and it will be a mixture of affordable purchase, cost rental and element of social units as well,” Mr Garvey said.
The site has a long planning history, with it once being earmarked by the now-defunct Howard Holdings for major development after they acquired the land in the mid-2000s for a reported €35m.
Site decontamination has been going on with a while, but great to see that @GlenveaghHomes are moving onto construction phase at the Marquee site, with official commencement notice for 19 April, for first 4 buildings of eventual >1000 apartments. https://t.co/omN1WktlKE pic.twitter.com/89dyGE9V7a
— Cork Crane Count (@CorkCraneCount) April 16, 2024
The new development will take place just a stone's throw away from the newly revamped Supervalu Páirc Uí Chaoimh and new Marina Park which opened in 2022.
Other plans for the Cork docklands include a projected 20,000 units in the coming years across on a variety of sites, with planners last August signing off on the single biggest residential development plan in Cork city centre.
Located at the Goulding’s site, Centre Park Rd and Monahan Rd, in the city's docks, the development is earmarked for 1,325 residential units, half of them one-bedroomed, in 10 buildings ranging from two floors up to one building with 14 floor.
There are also plans for cafés/restaurants with outdoor seating areas, service retail units and a convenience retail store on the ground floors of the scheme.
