Opportunities for new Cork home developments starting to open up

Significant multi-million euro land sales in the wings at Rathcooney, near Cork city, and near Mallow Castle and town

Blackwater beauty: Castlepark land sale, Mallow. Agents Lisney guide the 90 acres at €2.35m, estimated to take c 300 new homes

THE recent dearth of development land for new homes in and around Cork looks like easing, as the first quarter of 2022 brings multi-million euro land offers in Rathcooney, and Mallow, along with some longer-term land parcels being pitched at wealthy buyers banking down solid land banks and assets, in a hedge against inflation (see separate Rochestown land story, below.) Coming to market this week are 53 acres at Rathcooney, a city quarter already seeing plans advance for over 1,500 new homes, offered in up to three lots with a €3.2m AMV via agents CBRE and ERA Downey McCarthy.

Arderrow Rathcooney land for sale, 53 acres, guiding €3.2 million, CBRE and ERA Downey McCarthy, estate of the late Michael Donovan

Described as a strategic holding, some 47 of those acres are expected to be zoned Tier 3 for development in the Draft Cork City Development Plan 2022-2028, and the landbank which is 5kms from the city centre also includes industrial units producing €48,600 pa in income.

Further out geographically, but with swathes already zoned and primed for house building of up to or over 300 units, auctioneers Lisney also this week bring what they bill as “a significant residential development opportunity,” 90 acres close to Mallow town centre at Castlepark.

Previously associated with one of Cork’s busiest home builders of the boom years, John Barry of Castlelands, the 90 acres is laid out in two sections, one to the north c 47.68 acres which is zoned, with access from St Josephs Road. Adjoining Castlelands’ mid 2000s Castlepark residential scheme, and near a national school, it has a positive planning history. Ed Hanfin and Amanda Isherwood of Lisney say an indicative layout prepared by O’Keeffe O’Connell Architects “indicates potential for approx. 310 houses which are mainly semi-detached with some detached and townhouses.” The balance of the Mallow land, 42.18 acres along the River Blackwater just south of Mallow Castle and connecting Castlepark with Bridge Street, is zoned as a mix of Blackwater amenity corridor and open space / sports / recreation / amenity.

Money, Money, Money. People attending an ABBA music outdoor screening at Mallow Castle,part of Culture Night,  in September 2021.

Selling by tender, with a date of 3PM on March 31 and a guide of €2.35million, Lisney note taht commuter towns such as Mallow “have been earmarked for significant population growth and increased new housing development will be required to support this growth” (see also Planning Notes this page). “The property represents a superb residential development opportunity on prime lands within walking distance of Mallow town centre and in a high amenity location adjacent to Mallow Castle,” say Lisney, selling the 90 acres in one lot.

Meanwhile, interest in lots, and as an entire, is expected in the private treaty sale of 53.20 acres of development land and industrial units at Arrderrow, just off the Rathcooney Road at Ballvolane, Cork, one km off the Northern Ring Road, part of the estate of the late Michael Donovan.

CBRE agent Denis O’Donovan says the Ballyvolane/Banduff hinterland “has in recent times become the focus of major residential development activity,” noting a planning grant for a 753 unit development at Lahardane in May 2020, while planning for a 275 unit development on Ballyhooley Road is currently in the fast track SHD planning stages. In addition, 162 units are back in the pre-planning stage on the North Ring Road.

About five acres is zoned open space, while the bulk, c 47 acres headed for Tier 3 zoning for residential use “is seen as an excellent hedge against inflation. As surrounding developments progress and investment is made in infrastructure, the value of these lands is expected to appreciate significantly over time,” says Mr O’Donoghue.

Guide price is €3.2m, equivalent to €55,000 an acre for the Tier 3 bulk: this contrasts with Cork’s largest residential land sale in 2021, when 100 acres at Stoneview, Blarney, made just under €70,000 an acre. Interest is likely to span the developer and investor spectrum.

Joint agent Sean McCarthy of ERA Downey McCarthy adds that “it’s now widely accepted that demand for residential property is reaching critical levels in all urban areas, and scarcity of residential development land is exasperating the problem. With this in mind, the expected timescale for the development of Tier 3 zoned lands is likely to be greatly shortened in the near future.” 

Details Lisney 021-4275079 CBRE 021-491 7255 ERA Downey McCarthy 021-4905000