Green light given to apartment and food market plan at former Dennehy's Cross garage site
Computer-generated image of how the planned residential and retail development on Cork city's Dennehy's Cross will look. Image: RealSim
Permission has been granted for the development of a multi-storey residential accommodation and artisan food market at the long-vacant site of the former Dennehy's Cross Garage in Cork city.
The site is located close to the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit at the junction of Magazine Road, Wilton Road, Victoria Cross Road and Model Farm Road and is to be redeveloped into a four-storey complex with a cafe restaurant proposed for the ground floor.
The plans were lodged by Galway firm, Dennehys Cross Construction Ltd which is headed by Brian McHugh, Finian Hanley and Finn Hill.
The development consists of a partial change of use from commercial to residential and the demolition of the former garage structure while preserving the existing 20th-century structure of the former butcher's site for use as an artisan market food store.
The company was also given the green light for the construction of a four-storey residential development comprising 30 apartments. No parking was proposed but the site will provide 49 bicycle spaces.
Permission for the development was lodged in May last year after the firm revised the size of its plan following concerns raised in pre-planning meetings with Cork City Council.
In 2020, the company was refused planning permission for the development of 45 apartments on the same site.
In a statement prepared by planning consultants Butler O'Neill, the company said the "underutilised site" was an opportunity to deliver "high quality appropriately scaled quality residential development in an area of high demand."
"There is no doubt that the proposed scheme offers planning gain through the preservation and restoration of the 20th-century building and is a high-quality scheme which will enable future tenants to enjoy a high quality of life."
The report added that the development will "act as an exemplar of the slightly different approach to planning decisions which needs to be adopted if Cork city is to grow in tandem with National, Regional and Local level aspirations for growth."
