Ex-Fleming Construction HQ selling for €750k

A high-profile office-and-warehouse building, which was the main HQ of West Cork-based Fleming Construction in the run-up to the boom and eventual crash, has come back up for sale.

Set just on the Cork side of the main, N71 approach road into Bandon town, and listed with Sam Daunt and Niall Guerin, of Savills Cork, for a receiver, is this 17-year-old property, on almost 1.2 acres.

Priced at €750,000, it’s a curious mix, given almost equal space between office use and warehouse: it has purpose-built offices, spanning 12,580 sq ft, over two-levels, with three-level annex, in a mix of cellular and open-plan space.

It links to a rear warehouse unit, behind the offices, which measures 16,813 sq ft and is built with a steel portal frame.

This is where the Fleming Group pioneered their steel-frame construction process, as they ramped up housing output, eventually building an enormous factory (for their Fusion method in house- and apartment-building for UK and Irish markets) in Cork’s Ringaskiddy.

By the mid 2000s, and based at this Bandon HQ, Fleming Construction employed up to 2,000 and was turning over €200m a year.

The group folded with debts of over €1bn, and John Fleming served out a bankruptcy period in the UK. A prior attempt was made, in 2013, to sell this property, which was then priced at €600,000 by local agents.

Nearby occupants include Nyhan Motors, Cahalane’s filling station and drive-thru, Bandon Mart, MC & S Agriculture, and Atkins Farm Machinery, with a new Aldi nearby on the Glasslyn Road, beyond the bypass roundabout.

Savills’ Sam Daunt says “this property presents a unique opportunity to acquire a purpose-built office and warehouse on the outskirts of Cork,” and he expects both owner-occupier and investor interest.