Planning granted for regeneration of derelict Sunset Ridge Hotel outside Cork City

A sketch of the proposed mixed-use development which has been granted planning permission on the site of the derelict former Sunset Ridge Hotel, in Killeens, near Blarney, Cork.

Planning permission has been granted for the regeneration of a derelict former hotel on the outskirts of Cork City which was gutted in a suspected arson attack last year.

Cork City Council granted planning to developers Oshawott Limited on Friday for the demolition of the former Sunset Ridge Hotel at Killeens, near Blarney, and the construction of 43 residential units, a pharmacy and medical consulting rooms.

The news has been welcomed by local Fine Gael councillor Damian Boylan, who said he had been working for some time to address the dereliction issues blighting the site.

“I hope to see swift movement on this project now,” he said.

The landmark former hotel, a favourite spot for many people on the city’s northside, ceased trading several years ago and was boarded up, and had become a magnet for anti-social behaviour in recent years.

When it was in the jurisdiction of Cork County Council, planning was granted in 2011 for the demolition of the hotel building and other structures and for the construction of a mixed-use development, with a number of retail and office units, a pub and a restaurant, with 143 car parking spaces.

But the project never went ahead and the planning permission expired in 2016 and the building fell into dereliction.

The site ownership has changed several times over the years, and following the extension of the city boundary in 2019, the site was inspected by city officials and then formally declared derelict, and placed on the derelict sites register in October 2021.

The fire at Sunset Ridge Hotel last year.

Now, the city has granted planning for the demolition of the former hotel and all associated structures, and for the construction of a two-storey commercial building, with a ground-floor pharmacy and one medical consulting room, with four medical consulting rooms on the first floor.

The scheme also includes 43 residential units, to include four one-bed duplex apartments, 17 two-bed terrace dwellings, two two-bed semi-detached dwellings, 10 three-bed end of terrace dwellings, and 10 three-bed mid-terrace dwellings, all ranging in height from two to two-and-a-half storeys, and 67 car parking spaces across the site.

A new access point will be built, along with traffic calming measures, a new footpath and cycle lane to the L2785 and a reduce curve at the junction of the L2785 with the Killeens flyover to make the area safer.