A nice bit of Joe O’Reilly’s Blarney for €5m
45 acres for sale in Blarney are lands that once housed Joe O'Reilly's travel business
LANDS in Blarney that once housed the largest offices in the O’Reilly Travel group, set up by legend of Irish tourism the late Joe O’Reilly, are on the market for €5m.
Just under a quarter of the c45 acre site, which is close to Blarney village, is zoned for residential development.
Peter O’Meara of Savills who is handling the sale along with colleague James O’Donovan said they are seeing interest from developers.
It’s understood they have received offers, albeit below the asking price.
The substantial land parcel, a greenfield landholding with extensive frontage onto St Ann’s Road, which links the site to Blarney village to the east and Tower to the west, consists of approximately 18.2 hectares. Of this, 4.2ha are zoned for residential development, capable of accommodating an estimated c100-120 mixed house types.
While there has been residential growth in the Blarney area in recent years, principally an 88-unit scheme, Cluain Ard, off Waterloo Road and 58-unit Barters Wood (where three bed semis sold for c€350,000 last year), some developments have faced opposition. The owner of Blarney Castle, Charles Colhurst, has raised concerns in relation to development proposals he says would have an injurious effect on the view from the castle, which is a major tourist attraction.
The site for sale here presents a “substantial residential development opportunity within close proximity of Blarney village,” Mr O’Meara says.
He adds that while the configuration is irregular, its level topography “will play a critical role in keeping development costs to a minimum”. Moreover mature trees and hedgerows “act as natural boundaries...and provide for a private and secluded setting “.
The land bounding the site to the south is a mature agricultural holding with a brownfield site where the Blarney Park Hotel used to be.
The O'Reilly site is about 8km northwest of Cork city, close to the N20 and close too to Blarney Business Park. It’s one of three land blocks to the west of the village, another being the Blarney Park hotel site, where Irish Conference and Leisure Holdings (directors Freda Hayes and Fergus Gately) have plans to develop an 80-bedroom hotel and 70 residential units, while a primary care centre is earmarked for the third block, by developers JAW Asset Holding Ltd. Both proposals have been challenged in the courts by Mr Colthurst.
North of Blarney, at Stoneview, is another major landbank, 105 acres of former Nama-controlled land, which was bought two-and-a-half years ago by Irish-based investment fund Elkstone Capital for c€7m (guide price was €4.6, sold by Pat Falvey then with Coldwell Banker, now an agent with Lisney/Sothebys). An application for substantial residential development on that land is believed to be in the pipeline.
A separate application for 143 homes on a 7.8 hectare site in nearby Monacnappay by Cork developer Eoin Sheehan was given the right light by An Bord Pleanála last year.
Cork City Council has said that large areas of zoned land remain undeveloped in Blarney “due in part to infrastructural constraints” and that additional development needs to be looked at in this context “and the need to balance development with the tourism potential, the need for local services and wider sustainable transport targets for Cork”.
The touristic value of the village has never been in doubt, from the days Joe O'Reilly set up his office, where horse-drawn caravans were available for hire from the site.
But perhaps what secured his legendary status was the ingenious move to drive one of his horse-drawn caravans down the Champs Élysées in Paris, flanked by two gendarmes outriders. The stunt secured him front page coverage in French daily newspaper Le Monde, where his photograph appeared, and priceless coverage for the Irish tourist industry.
More information on the St Ann's Road land: email: Peter.OMeara@Savills.ie or James.ODonovan@savills.ie, Tel: 0214906114.
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