Cork councillors to consider land sale to facilitate Apple HQ expansion

The latest proposed land disposal is the second stage of a strategic land acquisition strategy that was developed to facilitate Apple’s expansion plans in Hollyhill, Cork. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Another publicly owned landbank has been lined up for disposal to the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) to facilitate expansion at tech giant Apple’s European headquarters in Cork City.

For the second time in less than a year, city councillors will be asked to agree to sell to the IDA an area of land just north of Apple’s vast campus in Hollyhill.

If approved, it will bring to just over €3.1m the total value the IDA has paid Cork City Council to facilitate the expansion of the Hollyhill campus.

It has also prompted fresh calls for the money to be ploughed into amenities in the local area.

The latest proposed land disposal, due to come before city councillors for approval next Monday, is the second stage of a strategic land acquisition strategy that was developed to facilitate Apple’s expansion plans in Cork, where planning was granted last year for a massive new four-storey office block.

This new building has been earmarked for the company's existing car park. It is understood that the acquisition by the IDA of land to the north will facilitate the relocation of those car parking facilities.

The 10-hectare landbank, immediately north of David McCarthy Rd, was identified last year as suitable for disposal to the IDA, in two separate lots.

Last April, city councillors approved the disposal of the freehold interest in the smaller 3.81-hectare lot A to the IDA’s Strategic Property Division for €1.25m after they were told it was “the best consideration reasonably obtainable" based on an independent valuation by the State Valuation Office.

“The proposed disposal is required to meet immediate employment needs in the area,” they were told at the time.

Councillors were also told that in discussions with the IDA, it had been indicated that further land “may be acquired to meet short-to-medium employment needs”.

Now, the second plot, the 6.12-hectare lot B, has been lined up for disposal to the IDA for €1,890,000 pending a decision at next Monday’s city council meeting.

Sinn Féin councillor Mick Nugent welcomed Apple’s ongoing expansion and the job opportunities that will flow from that.

However, he said City Hall now needs to ringfence some or all of the proceeds of these sales to benefit the northside.

“We have been trying to push the development of a north-west regional park — it really is the missing piece in terms of the overall regeneration of the north-west area,” he said.

“Some of this funding could go towards that. The community would benefit, and Apple and its staff would certainly benefit. The lands identified for the park are right on Apple’s doorstep.

Advancing the development of this regional park would be a win-win for everyone.” 

Apple opened its Irish operations in Cork in 1980 with a single manufacturing facility and 60 employees.

Today, it employs more than 6,000 people at Hollyhill, making it one of the city’s largest private employers.

The company was granted planning last November for a four-storey office building to provide office space, meeting rooms, staff welfare, and service areas on the site of its existing car park.

The proposed development also includes a single-storey ‘commute hub’ building that will provide bicycle and scooter parking, as well as storage and staff facilities serving the wider Apple campus.

It is planned to connect this new building to the existing ‘HH4’ office building to the south-east via a cantilevered link corridor at first-floor level, and link the new car park north of David McCarthy Rd with Apple’s main campus via a pedestrian underpass.