Around 140 affordable homes planned for Cork City Council carpark site

Figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) last week showed a 6.7% decrease in house building nationally between 2023 and 2024, while homelessness figures continue to rise

The site is within short walking distance of the city centre, Kent train station, and main bus terminus at Parnell Place.

The Land Development Agency (LDA) is to ramp up its housing delivery in Cork city with plans to build 140 affordable homes on a site currently used as a car park by Cork City Council workers.

Earmarked for Anglesea Terrace, at the junction of Old Station Road and South Link Road, close to the Elysian, the majority of homes will be cost-rental apartments, with a percentage going to the Council for social housing.

The LDA intends to lodge a planning application later this year with the hope of beginning construction by 2027 and delivering the first homes by 2030. Cork City Council expects to publish the design for the project shortly.

The exact number of homes has not yet been finalised but is likely to be just over 140. The site is within short walking distance of the city centre, Kent train station and the main bus terminus at Parnell Place.

The Anglesea Terrace project will revitalise an under-utilised brownfield site in the centre of Cork at a time of pressing housing need.

LDA boss John Coleman said it is “delighted to be partnering with Cork City Council to deliver much-needed affordable homes in the heart of Cork city” at a time of pressing housing need.

He thanked the council for making the land available to them.

“This project will revitalise an under-utilised brownfield site in the centre of Cork, transforming it into a high quality, affordable and desirable residential development,” Mr Coleman said.

The agency hopes to begin marketing the homes at the former St Kevin's Hospital site in Shanakiel after Easter. Picture: MMD Construction

Valerie O’Sullivan, the council’s chief executive, said it would create “a new, sustainable and well-connected neighbourhood” in the Anglesea Terrace area.

“We look forward to publishing the design for the project shortly and I would encourage people to engage with the process so that we can deliver a development and community that works for everyone in the city,” Ms O’Sullivan said.

The project will build on the LDA’s ongoing activity in Cork which includes a 267-home scheme at the former St Kevin’s hospital site in Shanakiel; 302 apartments at Horgan’s Quay in partnership with developers BAM/Clarendon; 350 affordable homes in Wilton, with the first units expected late in 2028; talks with Glenveagh Properties about partnering on a 1,000 apartment scheme at the former Live at the Marquee Marina site, and ongoing talks with the ESB and Bord na Móna about acquiring two further docklands sites on which to deliver 900 homes in the long term.

Planning permission was granted for construction of apartment blocks at the former Ford Distribution site, which was home to Live at the Marquee concert series for many years. File Picture: Larry Cummins

The project is positive news at a time when figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show a 6.7% decrease in house building nationally between 2023 and 2024, while homelessness figures continue to rise.

The Anglesea Terrace project, to the rear of the iconic redbrick former St Joachim and St Anne’s Asylum building, is earmarked for land owned by Cork City Council and made available by it to the LDA. The 0.6-acre site currently houses a collection of buildings, variously used in the past as a water depot, drainage depot and works department.

The history of the neighbourhood is interesting. A site to the north of Anglesea Terrace was once Cork’s Corn Market and is now the site of City Hall. The Corn Market, built between 1827 and 1833, was expanded in 1843 and a Hay Market was added to the south. East of the site, the Cork, Bandon and South Coast railway began operations in 1851 and lasted more than a century, until 1961.

The LDA’s Anglesea Terrace project will build on its ongoing activity in Cork, where the first homes are just being completed in its 267-unit scheme at the former St Kevin’s hospital site in Shanakiel. The LDA hopes to begin marketing the homes after Easter.

On Horgan’s Quay, it’s in the process of delivering 302 apartments (currently two storeys above ground and rising) in partnership with developers BAM/Clarendon. About two-thirds will be cost rental – at least 25% before local market value - with the rest going to owner-occupiers under the Croí Cónaithe (Cities) scheme, where the government subsidizes the cost of the apartments.

More recently, the agency published draft plans for the development of 350 affordable homes in Wilton, on a 6.7 acre site which it bought from the ESB. The first units are expected late in 2028.

Separately, the agency is in talks with Glenveagh Properties about partnering on a 1,000-apartment scheme at the former Live at the Marquee site in the Marina, while talks are ongoing also with the ESB and Bord na Móna about acquiring two further docklands sites on Centre Park Road and Monahan Road, with the capacity to deliver 900 homes in the longterm