Cork docklands' first large-scale apartment scheme to go ahead

The majority of the apartments will be made available at cost-rental, at least 25% below the regular local market rate

The Horgan’s Quay site breakthrough is significant as the absence of residential had been the major gap in the €160m mixed-use development in Cork City. Picture: Larry Cummins

The first large-scale apartment scheme in Cork City’s docklands is set to go ahead after the Land Development Agency (LDA) swung in behind a stalled Clarendon Properties/Bam Ireland residential project on Horgan’s Quay.

The move should see the first of 302 apartments delivered by the end of 2025, with the majority being made available at cost-rental, at least 25% below the regular local market rate. The LDA is also planning to deliver 350 homes at an ESB site in Wilton.

The Horgan’s Quay site breakthrough is significant as the absence of residential had been the major gap in the €160m mixed-use development which, to date, consists of two state-of-the-art office blocks. It’s likely to be good news for tech giant Apple, the flagship tenants at No 1 Horgan’s Quay. Clarendon/Bam has previously highlighted the importance of having residential on site for attracting businesses.

Confirmation that the LDA is “finalising commercial terms” with the developers of Horgan’s Quay comes nearly 30 years after the late developer Owen O’Callaghan spotted the waterfront site’s potential, when he proposed to build a science park on three acres back in 1995. The proposal was pulled after political accusations of a “cosy cartel” as the site had not gone to market.

In the mid-2000s a deal was agreed but never delivered with Manor Park Homes, for 14 acres on Horgan’s Quay, to include a conference centre and 1,200 apartments, in a development valued at €700m.

In 2016, CIE reached a deal with Clarendon and Bam which gave them a 300-year lease on the six acres. Now, finally, the site’s full potential is set to be realised.

Computer-generated image of the proposed development, which is set to go ahead after the Land Development Agency swung in behind a stalled Clarendon Properties/Bam Ireland residential project on Horgan’s Quay, Cork. Picture: Larry Cummins

A spokesperson for the LDA said he could confirm that they were "finalising the commercial terms" of the deal.

“The transaction is part of the LDA’s Project Tosaigh initiative and the majority of the homes will be made available under the cost rental scheme, whereby eligible renters are provided with security of tenure, at rents significantly below market rates,” the spokesperson said.

Project Tosaigh, part of the Government’s Housing for All policy, is designed to unlock land with full planning permission that is not being developed by private sector owners, due to financing and other constraints. Clarendon/Bam had struggled to make the residential element of Horgan’s Quay viable in the face of rising construction costs, driven by a series of global crises.

With the development looking set to go ahead, it’s positive news for Cork City’s docklands, identified by the Government as one of a number of major strategic sites for the delivery of thousands of new homes around the country.

The LDA is already involved in the delivery of 265 affordable homes in Cork City at the former St Kevin’s Hospital site in Shanakiel. The target date for the delivery of the first homes is Q1 2025.