Deal sealed on 180-acre prime land in Mallow
Savills have announced the sale of 180 acres of land at St Joseph’s Road, Mallow on behalf of property development company Castlelands Construction, with between €12,500 to €14,000 per acre paid.
They have also confirmed the property was sold in two lots, to local auctioneer and farmer John Cronin and to tillage farmer Denis Crowley.
The wide price parameters quoted by the selling agents are closer at their highest point to the figures bandied about in 2012 of €15,000 per acre.
Savills have not named the purchasers.
But auctioneer John Cronin, a former owner of some of this property, has confirmed his buy-back of the acreage he had originally sold to Castlelands Construction.
And it goes without saying that this most recent sale price bears no relation to the astronomical values previously paid for the property.
The other purchaser of the property, Denis Crowley, a well-known farmer who has built over 1,000 acres on the strength of strategic selling and buying, is also purchasing back land he previously owned.
It’s believed the 180 acres made up to €40m when sold to Castlelands Construction.
“The lands are within the Mallow Development Boundary and are zoned X-03 Special Zoning, which is defined as an objective to secure the development of in the region of 3,000 new dwellings,” according to a Savills press release.
Agents, Sam Daunt and Peter O’Meara of Savills were also involved in the private treaty sale of a land bank between Douglas and Carrigaline, accumulated by Castlelands Construction for a reputed, €7m to Blarney-based farmer, Sam Vickery — although Mr Vickery or Savills have never confirmed this deal.
Mr Vickery had acquired a portion of the same lands some time prior to Castlelands’ interest — and subsequently sold to the developer for a significant profit. It’s believed that Mr Vickery has purchased the entire 450 acres from Castlelands Construction and Nama.
The agents have asserted their remit to sell the property in one block, despite interest from other farmers locally, most of whom had been among the sellers of portions of this land to the developer in the first place.
At St Joseph’s Road, Mallow, the most recent sale of the 180-acre holding is likely to have made in excess of its guide price of €2.25m — a far cry from the €40m it made in 2004, when it was the largest land deal in Co Cork that year. But today’s standards, the latest price paid — which could up to €2.5m — is significantly higher than current average values. However, both purchasers farm locally, and the benefits to them of adding the purchased property to their existing holdings may explain the spike in price.
While the Celtic Tiger boom has wreaked havoc, for many, it has created the seed capital for major land acquisitions such as the 180-acre Mallow deal, after the cliff-fall in values in the early years of the bust. Thus, agriculture may be the one sector of the economy to have benefited in a continuous albeit limited way from the boom.
However, long term, it seems that the Government will impose a legal limit to land values where that land is sold for development purposes — perhaps a two-fold or four-fold increase compared to agricultural values, with a further CPO element for critical, zoned areas.
Many see zoning and land value control as the only way to prevent a recurrence of the property bubble which destroyed what was essentially a thriving economy.
