Council unveils grants to tackle vacant offices

A new building grant and commercial rates waiver scheme has been unveiled in Cork City in a bid to tackle the problem of office vacancy.

The pilot project is targeted at the owners of protected structures and is designed to incentivise them to invest in their buildings and rent them out.

Successful applicants could get a grant of up to €15,000 for building works, and benefit from a 50% waiver in their rates in year one, with a sliding waiver scale applied for a further two years.

And if refurbishment is undertaken which requires planning permission, the owners will not have to pay development contributions.

City manager Tim Lucey said the initiative is the first of a series of measures his officials are working on in a bid to stimulate economic development in the city centre.

“There will be more. They are small steps but all with one thing in mind — to try and create the right environment for jobs,” he said.

Details of the €45,0000 scheme were unveiled this week.

A report by Pat Ledwidge, the council’s director of services in the strategic planning and economic development directorate, shows there is over 300,000sq ft of advertised vacant office space above 1,500sq ft, in the city centre.

He said the city derived much of its architectural and commercial character from the older buildings on key streets, many of which were protected structures. “Their long term contribution from both a commercial and heritage perspective should be prioritised,” he said.

There are 35 protected structures on South Mall alone, representing 42% of the entire building stock on the street. The new scheme is therefore targeted at vacant protected structures, he said.

He said the capital grant aims to encourage owners to invest in their buildings, and to make them more attractive to the market.

Qualifying works would include the external fabric of the building, but might also include the upgrade of telecommunications, fire safety improvements, energy efficiency measures, and other works deemed essential to assist in upgrading and future proofing the building.

And if refurbishment takes place and the owner succeeds in renting the space, the council will then apply the sliding scale of rates waivers over three years.

Mr Lucey said planning officials are also working on a major city centre strategy, which will take up to eight months, to encourage more people to live and shop in the core. It will tease out a range of issues including vacant buildings, increasing footfall, car parking issues and dereliction, he said.

“All the issues will go in to a pot and will be teased out,” said Mr Lucey.

Other initiatives are in the pipeline following a meeting with representatives of Retail Excellence Ireland, he added.

A council report, two weeks ago, showed that the city centre had lost about 3,500 jobs to edge-of-city locations.

€15k grant

Targeting office vacancy: * The scheme offers a capital building improvement grant of up to €15,000.

Once the building is rented out, its owner can qualify for:

* A 50% grant in lieu of rates in year one;

* A 35% grant in lieu of rates in year two;

* A 15% grant in lieu of rates in year three;

* Full rates would apply from year four.