€100m plan for East Cork outlet centre 'back on track' yet again
Artist impression of the Carrigtwohill 'Kildare Village' style retail outlet.
The company behind plans for a €100m-plus retail outlet in East Cork is determined to press ahead with the centre, despite legal setbacks.
Managing director of British-based Rioja Estates Giles Membrey told the that his company has reactivated the plan it first mooted 36 months ago for the Tourist Outlet Village (TOV) in Carrigtwohill.
Membrey hopes to enter into pre-planning discussions with Cork County Council in the summer.
He said phase one of the project, costing around €100m, would provide up to 16,000 sq m of floor space for high end fashion and sports companies, could attract an estimated 220,000 shoppers annually and create 850 jobs when completed.
He has been involved in developing 25 such centres throughout Britain and mainland Europe, most recently in Malmo, Sweden.
Mr Membrey said it is “still early days” in the project, but if it proved very successful the company could plan further phases to increase the size of the development to 25,000 sq m.
This would probably cost in the region of €150m and lead to the creation of a total of 1,400 full and part-time jobs.
Rioja Estates initially launched its plan for the Carrigtwohill development in November 2019. However, it was put in abeyance after the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) objected to it; an intervention which caused significant anger among Cork county councillors.
The local authority went to the High Court and earlier this year won the case that it was entitled to rezone land for the project in its County Development Plan.
A decision on whether or not the development does proceed will be a matter for An Bord Pleanála.
Mr Membrey said his planning team has “geared up again” after the outcome of the High Court case and described the delay as being “frustrating.” He said despite delay, his company has seen “a lot of interest” from high end retailers in the Carrigtwohill project.
Approximately 15% of the Carrigtwohill floor space will be taken up by food and beverage outlets.
Mr Membrey said past experience with such projects has shown that on average visitors to TOVs spend 3.5 hours per visit at such outlets, and will need feeding while there.
He said his company is looking at installing a wormery at the Carrigtwohill outlet to break down leftover food into compost. The facility will also feature a play area for children.
The proposed development is on a site close to the IDA industrial estate at Killacloyne in Carrigtwohill and if approved it is estimated 640 people will be employed during construction.
Carrigtwohill-based Fine Gael councillor Anthony Barry welcomed the news. He said the development would provide a major boost to the tourism sector, particularly with the large number of cruise liner passengers who disembark in nearby Cobh.
He said there is a large growing young population in the area which will be able to benefit from jobs created by the Carrigtwohill TVO.
“From a sustainable point of view car journeys from the south of the country to Kildare would be eliminated as this facility would service this region,” Mr Barry said.
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