Cork's 'best suburban site in years' to be jointly developed by O'Callaghan Properties and Johnson & Perrott

Prime greenfield Douglas site has been growing corn for decades: now a crop of 113 homes is being sown

Field of housing dreams? This prime suburban Cork site in Douglas is ear-marked for a residential development of 113 units including houses, apartments and a creche is to be jointly developed by O'Callaghan Properties and Johnson & Perrott motor business owner Mark Whitaker

Leading Cork developers O’Callaghan Properties have joined forces with Johnson & Perrott family-owned motor business’s Mark Whitaker to develop one of the best remaining greenfield Cork suburban sites for housing.

Plans just lodged this week for 113 residential units for five acres/1.98 hectares on the South Douglas Road see the Whitaker family’s Mark Whitaker once more collaborate with O’Callaghan Properties (OCP) some 20 years after J&P sold its  former garage premises on the city centre’s Emmet Place to allow the development of the mixed use retail and apartment development Opera Lane.

Indicative image of house styles for Ballincurrig Villa development in O'Callaghan Properties joint proposal with Johnson & Perrott, off the South Douglas Road.

The South Douglas Road field, quite incredibly used for growing crops in the midst of suburban Douglas over recent decades, was offered to the market five years ago and a deal valued at €10m, for seven acres was agreed with Centurian Homes to develop up to 150 units under licence.

However, that plan and sale to Centurian didn’t conclude.

Now, a fresh developer, OCP, is on board for a joint development for a lower density scheme in this mature location near Douglas village and Nemo Rangers GAA grounds.

Indicative image of proposed development.

Planning has just been lodged with Cork City Council for a two-phase development on the site to the south of the 1968-located Johnson & Perrott motor dealership on the main Douglas road and behind a retained Georgian house Ballincurrig Villa by Johnson & Perrott Property Developments Limited — a joint venture between Johnson & Perrott and O’Callaghan Properties.

The proposed development, by Reddy Architecture, comprises three detached units, four semi-ds, 48 townhouses, 22 mews units and 36 duplexes with terraces and private open space, in a mix that includes eight one-beds, 20 two-beds, 64 three-beds and 21 four-beds, plus a creche.

With elements said to accord with objectives for the site outlined in the 2022-2028 City Development Plan and in line with new draft Sustainable and Compact Settlements Guidelines, it includes public open space on the lawn in front of Ballincurrig Villa, vehicle, cyclist and pedestrian access from the South Douglas Road, and priority given to pedestrian movement over car dependency.

It includes public realm upgrades on the South Douglas Road frontage, less than one kilometre from the village, between Tramore Lawn and Rathmore Lawn while the design “incorporates a walking loop available to residents of the wider area which will add a valuable new amenity to the locality, allowing the heritage features of the Villa to be accessible to the public,” say the developers.

Mark Whitaker from Johson & Perrott said they were “delighted to have O’Callaghan Properties leading this exciting project. “It will bring over 100 much needed family homes to the Douglas area in a layout which addresses all of the sensitivities of this unique site and its surrounding area.”

Carriage of sale: An Tánaiste, Micheál Martin, T.D. pictured with Mark Whitaker , CEO of JPMG Motor Group at the donation of  a carriage from the original Johnson & Perrott garage in Emmet Place, Cork with other artifacts to Cork Public Museum in Fitzgeralds Park. Picture: Adrian O'Herlihy

The Douglas site has been family-firm owned since 1917 and motor uses on the main Douglas Road portion have been in situ since 1968, while J&P also has motor dealership facilities in Mahon, and on the Bandon Road.

This site will be a niche one for joint developers O’Callaghan Properties, established in 1969 and which has now developed over 7,000 residential units in Ireland and in the UK, along with five million square ft of commercial space, embracing 14 shopping centres, and including Dublin’s Liffey Valley, and Mahon Point and Opera Lane in Cork.

OCP's Brian O'Callaghan seen at the city quays' Navigation Square in 2019. Picture: Denis Scannell

Second generation developer Brian O’Callaghan of OCP said: “This is a very significant project that will deliver a new, sustainable, and intimate residential neighbourhood, framed by the highest design values which properly reflect the site’s location and history.”

When last offered to the market in November 2017its then-selling agents Savills described it as “one of, if not the best greenfield residential development sites to come to the city market in the past 10 to 15 years.”

Now, make that 20 years...?