More legal manoeuvres on Cork's South Mall as No 49 goes up for sale for €1.8m

Coakley Moloney Solicitors is the latest legal firm to make moves

49 South Mall, home to Coakley Moloney Solicitors and Brightwater Recruitment, is on the market for €1.8m

The home of one of Cork city’s oldest law firms, Coakley Moloney Solicitors, is up for sale for €1.8m in the latest of a series of legal manoeuvres on South Mall.

The arrival to market of No 49 South Mall, home to Coakley Moloney Solicitors since the mid-1980s, follows hot on the heels of news that JW O’Donovan Solicitors are vacating their home of 93 years — No 53 South Mall — to move across the road to Nos 26/27, doubling their footprint to 7,500 sq ft.

No 49 is even bigger, at 10,400 sq ft (969 sq m), which is the key reason behind Coakley Moloney Solicitors’ decision to relocate.

No 49 South Mall, Cork.

The intention is to “rightsize”, as the building is now considered too large for modern working practices.

The four-storey, mid-terrace period premises — more or less across the road from also up for sale Electric bar and restaurant — is also home to Brightwater Recruitment.

That firm has exercised a break option and will be vacating the premises on March 1, 2025.

Rob Coughlan, of Cohalan Downing, who is joint selling agent with Seán Healy of Cushman & Wakefield, points out that this gives a new landlord the opportunity for immediate rental income. The annual Brightwater rent is €30,000.

He adds that the sale of No 49 includes seven surface level secure car spaces, accessed via Grafton St.

While Brightwater Recruitment has been at No 49 for about 20 years, where it occupies the ground floor and portions of the upper floors, Coakley and Moloney Solicitors has been there for the bones of 40 years and occupies the bulk of the building.

The premises was modernised by Hudson Associates Architects in the noughties, when a rear annexe was demolished and a modern 800 sq m, three-storey office building over surface car park was added to the rear.

A central internal atrium was incorporated to enhance the natural light levels.

The sizeable building is in an L-shape, with its main frontage to South Mall, while the modern extension widens out to the rear to front Grafton St.

The property is laid out with an impressive reception area and boardroom, a series of meeting rooms, open plan and private offices, and ancillary staff accommodation.

Reception at No 49

Mr Coughlan said the “adaptable layout of the property means it is suitable for single or multi-occupancy office use”.

“It may also suit alternative uses, such are residential, mixed-use or redevelopment, subject to planning and the necessary consents,” Mr Coughlan added.

The agents said No 49 represents “an attractive opportunity for owner occupiers, investors, or developers”.

The property has a prominent pitch in Cork’s traditional central business district (CBD) and, while Coakley Moloney Solicitors is on the lookout for a new home, there’s a good chance that it will remain within the CBD.

The firm, founded in 1890, has retained some of its business clients for more than 100 years, while some of its private clients are fifth generation.

Coakley Moloney Solicitors is the latest legal firm to indicate plans to move, but another legal firm is also understood to be relocating from South Mall to a reinvigorated part of the city centre. Details of that move should emerge in the near future.

The traffic is not all one-way. Last year, high profile legal firm RDJ returned to South Mall after a decade in Citygate, in Mahon, swapping offices developed by John Cleary Developments (JCD) in the southern suburbs for another JCD group development at No 85 South Mall.

South Mall is the city’s legal, business, and real estate heartland, and is close to the main shopping thoroughfare — as well as a glut of hospitality venues.

Details: Rob Coughlan, Email: [e-mail]. Mob: [phone].

Seán Healy, Email: [e-mail]. Mob: [phone].