€100m apartment scheme unveiled for former Sextant Bar site in Cork

The council's deputy chief executive, Brian Geaney, said that the proposal 'will be the catalyst to further unleash the potential of the docklands area'

The plan, if greenlit, will see a 24-storey apartment tower built on the site of the former Sextant Bar on Albert Quay, Cork city.

Plans have been unveiled for a near €100m 24-storey apartment scheme on an iconic Cork city docklands site.

The vacant Sextant Bar site on Albert Quay, where private apartments were deemed non-viable three years ago, will now see more than 200 cost-rental apartments if greenlit.

Cork City Council has published the details of its ambitious partnership plan with the JCD Group to deliver 217 apartments in the proposed Railway Apartments scheme on the JCD-owned former Sextant Bar and Carey’s Tool Hire site, on Albert Quay, on the south docks.

It includes a mix of studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom units, with most for cost-rental and around 40 or 50 designed specifically for older people and for those with a disability.

Rents will be at least 25% below market rates. There will be no basement parking, and space on the ground floor has been set aside for community and arts use.

With two blocks stepping down to 12 and nine storeys, the design is similar to what was previously granted planning on the site in 2020 — with minor modifications to comply with updated fire safety and apartment standards.

JCD abandoned its built-to-rent apartments plan for the site in 2021, insisting rents would have to be close to €3,000 a month to make them viable, and switched to an office scheme — which never progressed

The site has lain vacant since.

Under the Government’s Cost Rental Scheme introduced in 2021, local authorities or housing bodies apply for grants to help cover the cost of construction. This scheme has bridged the viability gap for the development of apartments on this docklands gateway site, the council and JCD said.

JCD's John Cleary has said that the project will be known as The Railyard Apartments.

The plan has emerged from a council-led housing delivery process called ‘competitive dialogue’, which the council’s deputy chief executive, Brian Geaney, said demonstrates its commitment to the delivery of affordable accommodation in highly accessible locations close to the city centre.

“This new proposal for a mixed tenure scheme of 217 new homes will be the catalyst to further unleash the potential of the docklands area as a place to work, live, and socialise in the very heart of Cork city, and also demonstrates the council’s commitment to prioritising brownfield development in the delivery of mixed tenure schemes in the urban area,” he said.

JCD’s John Cleary said they are delighted to progress the project with the council.

The development of apartments was our original vision for this site and, following welcome State initiatives, these affordable units can now be delivered

“The project will be known as The Railyard Apartments — in recognition of the site’s history as a terminus for the Cork, Blackrock, and Passage railway,” he said.

JCD has also said it is committed to delivering in parallel its already permitted renovation of two adjacent listed buildings — the two-storey former Cork, Blackrock, and Passage railway offices and the adjoining single-storey former ticket office — with the development of a new bar and restaurant in the former terminus building, the construction of a publicly accessible plaza, and the refurbishment of the former Carey House.

The announcement finally provides certainty on the future of the site, which has lain vacant since the former Sextant Bar was demolished four years ago to pave the way for JCD’s original 200-unit residential apartment scheme with a 25-storey tower — which was approved by An Bord Pleanála under the strategic housing development process in 2020.