Top of the town site to boost residential expansion in Cobh

Elavated land above Cork harbour, served by Cobh rail line, can add hundreds of new homes as town continus its growth trajectory post-pandemic

Thu, 03 Mar, 2022 - 00:05

Property Editor Tommy Barker reports

GREENFIELD development land, at the top of a town served by a commuter rail line, has come to market by auction, high above Cork Harbour.

Just put for sale is 54 acres at Ticknock, Cobh, by the Tay Road, elevated and adjoining a trio of supermarkets, and land already being developed for new homes.

The majority is zoned for medium-density house building, and interest is expected in this land capable of accommodating several hundred new homes from a cross-section of developers, including those from outside the region, given recent trends.

Listed for a local, land-owning private family with joint agents Savills and Cohalan Downing is what is billed as “a substantial greenfield landholding located on the edge of Cobh town centre, immediately adjacent Cobh Retail Park which occupies large retailers such as SuperValu, Aldi, Lidl, and Applegreen”.

Set toward the crown of Cobh/Great Island, it is 1.5km north of the water/harbour’s edge and efficient commuter rail station, and adjoining land currently being developed for a 170-house scheme, Cooline, where townhouse sales have been going through recently in the €270,000/€280,000 price bracket and some other sales have tipped over €300k, according to the Price Register. A new release, for four-bed semi-ds, is due shortly at Cooline.

This holding is also adjacent to a development site known as Mooreshill (previously Cluain Ard) where SHD planning was granted last year for 237 units.

This 54-acre holding comes at a time of renewed activity in the greater Cork region’s land offers after little transactional activity in 2021, has frontage to two roads allowing for separate access points and phased development/housing profile and mix. Of this, 34 acres is at present zoned for medium density residential development, with a further 13.7 acres as ‘Special Policy Area X-01’, and 5.8 acres for business and general employment.

The land is due for auction on April 21, with a reserve of €1.6m, or an average of €30,000 per acre, all-in, and so could even be bought as a short- to medium-term investment. It has 120m frontage to the Tay Road and 200m frontage to Hilltop Park Road.

The selling agents describe it as “a greenfield agricultural landholding which is made up of four smaller parcels of land that are divided by mature trees and hedgerows,” and say that it is “well-located on the edge of the town centre within close proximity of all local amenities, whilst the huge appeal of Cobh is the availability of a great rail network”.

That line links to Cork City centre, Little Island, Glounthaune, back east to Midleton and where a Greenway along the balance of the original rail line to Youghal is under way.

Savills agent James O’Donovan says that “developers have realised the attraction of Cobh over the last number of years, with a number of major developments under way or in train,” mentioning Cooline and Mooreshill as examples, while previous, very large schemes were done by the likes of Fleming Construction at Rushbrook.

The area has natural beauty, a range of schools and services, world-recognised heritage attractions (Spike Island, Titanic Centre and more, plus water-borne activities etc) and the past two years of the global pandemic has put coastal communities, including Cobh, on a wider homehunters’ radar and driven up prices, especially for water-aspected homes.

“The last number of sites to have transacted in Cobh have been acquired by developers outside of Cork, and we expect interest outside of the local market to continue,” say joint agents Cohalan Downing and Savill.

“This site is capable of delivering a substantial number of units, and this will appeal to purchasers looking for economies of scale: the local market has seen significant house price inflation and with the new homes stock trading so well there’s sure to be a good level of interest” they add.