Fermoy centre set for revamp as mart sells for €22.5m
Fermoy Mart, occupying eight acres in the middle of the north Cork town since 1957, has been sold for a shop-dominated redevelopment, with Tesco and Dunnes now set to go head-to-head to anchor the future development.
The town plot was bought this week by the Love family’s Shipton Group, specialists in the retail shopping centre development business. The Loves control the two Douglas shopping centres, initially developed the Wilton shopping centre and have been behind the successful Blackpool Retail Park shopping centre.
In addition, they are poised for a major redevelopment of a section of Carrigaline, and have massively ambitious plans for a whole renewal of Douglas village core, linking their two shopping centres and adding major new elements such as a hotel.
Howard Holdings and a Dublin-based developer were among those who came close at the end of the sale, and others who considered Fermoy’s town development site are likely to have been O’Callaghan Properties, Fleming Construction and O’Flynn Construction, currently doing the new Ballincollig town centre.
Going on the blueprints for rejuvenating county and commuter towns like Mallow and Carrigaline, Fermoy will now be in line for a eight-acre €150m-plus scheme to include large supermarket, other retail units, cinema, hotel, offices and residential buildings.
The price paid equates to €2.7m per acre, certainly the largest deal in the marts own history, but more crucially it also shows confidence in the Irish commercial and retail property market, even if the residential sector is currently in the doldrums.
Cork Marts chief executive Sean O’Sullivan said the strong price paid meant the development of their new 120,000sqft “super mart” at Corrin would now proceed absolutely free of debt.
It previously closed Midleton Mart, now redeveloped by the group as a new town centre scheme, and it has redevelopment plans due to go for planning permission for Mitchelstown.
Ironically, the Loves €22.5m purchase of the Fermoy mart site comes just a few years after they vigorously opposed Cork Marts retail development plans for Midleton.
