216 student beds proposed for high-end residential Cork's Orchard Road

The proposed O’Brien family-backed student apartments site, San Paula, backs onto the extensive, parkland-like, Brookfield Village complex and leisure centre on 11 acres.

Ear-marked for the possible 216-bed student accommodation development by Denis O’Brien Developments is the demolition of the Orchard Road house and gardens called San Paula (circled, above), which was acquired from its private owner Catherine Neville in 2017 for €1.9 million. It’s close to UCC and adjoins Brookfield Village, while a number of neighbouring Orchard Road homes are also in the €1m+ price league.

Plans by a second-generation Cork development company to build 216 student beds in one of the city’s most exclusive residential settings by UCC — on Orchard Road, neighbouring a number of €1m-plus private homes — may be advanced after a Bord Pleanála consideration this month.