Cork docklands – dead in the water, almost

A LOT of things got washed downstream in Cork’s 2009 flooding – but gone out even earlier on the tide were the Brave New World hopes of a major docklands redevelopment. Gone are much of the hopes of the likes of key drivers like Howard Holdings – which is now a pale shadow of what it was.

Howards led the posse in grand ambition and got planning in 2009 for a €1bn Atlantic Quarter scheme, with residential towers of 10, 20 and 30 storeys, among other elements.

It has been an annus horribilis for Howard Holdings in any case, shutting its airport investment in Coventry with losses of millions, and with creditors chasing directors on various Irish sites and investments. Much of Howard’s assets and sites have been moved by Anglo Irish Bank to a newly-formed “asset management” entity, Clowater, run by former key personnel.