Penneys puts entire block of Cork City properties up for sale for €5.2m

Cook St and Oliver Plunkett St

An entire block of Cork city centre properties, once earmarked as part of leading high street retailer Penneys’ expansion plans, has come to market with a €5.2m price tag.

The prime investment and asset management portfolio, comprising Nos 2-7 Cook St and Nos 97-98 Oliver Plunkett St, ranks among the largest offerings of its kind in Cork City this year, topped only by The Loft furniture store which came to market in April for €6m via Sherry FitzGerald. The Loft agents said there is “good interest, but no offers yet”.

The Cook St/Oliver Plunkett St block is being offered for sale by private treaty via Savills, and is available in one or more lots, with potential for investors to acquire a substantial footprint within the city’s retail core.

The eight properties had originally been assembled by Penneys for incorporation into its existing St Patrick’s Street flagship store as part of a proposed 17,000sq ft €60m expansion submitted for planning approval in 2021. The retailer, supported by the O’Flynn Group, had spent a decade on site assembly, including the acquisition of the Cook St and Oliver Plunkett St units.

The plan was approved, on appeal, in 2023, but Penneys later placed the project on hold, citing planning delays and rising construction costs. In the meantime, the retailer invested €4m in its Wilton store.

A new scaled-back application was lodged in February and approved in April, clearing Penneys for a smaller 6,000sq ft expansion. The revised proposal includes the Flying Tiger premises on St Patrick’s Street, and will also bring two long-vacant units back into use — the former Jack & Jones store, and a vacant unit at No 1 Cook St. However, No 2-7 Cook St and Nos 97-98 Oliver Plunkett St no longer form part of the expansion plan and have been released back to market.

Asked by the Irish Examiner when it intended to start work on the long-planned revamp, a spokesperson for Penneys said an update was imminent.

“We can’t wait to bring a bigger and better Penneys to the heart of Cork city centre. Plans are well underway to bring our customers the store makeover they’ve been waiting for and our colleagues an incredible workplace. We’ll be sharing more information around when we’re hoping to bring this all to life in the coming weeks,” the spokesperson said.

The revamp will include a “full refresh and modernisation” of the existing store, which will offer 40,500sq ft of retail space.

The eight properties now on the market all have vacant upper floors, with the exception of No 4 Cook St where vintage shop Naphisa is in situ. All eight have commercial ground floor units of which three are currently tenanted, including: Central Shoe Store at No 6 Cook St; Murphy’s Ice Cream at No 7 Cook St, a high-profile corner building at the junction of Oliver Plunkett St; Vape shop Wicked Vapes at No 97 Oliver Plunkett St.

Current rental income from the tenanted properties is €87,000pa, with “immediate opportunities for active asset management and value enhancement”, according to commercial agents at Savills.

Lia Dennehy, divisional director, said the opportunity “offers a compelling play on the ongoing evolution of Cork city centre”.

“The scale, dual frontage, and proximity to major anchors, combined with flexible refurbishment potential, allows an incoming purchaser to reposition the asset in line with modern retail and mixed-use requirements,” Ms Dennehy said.

The portfolio, described as “a rare refurbishment and repositioning opportunity” extends to approximately 2,691sq m (29,076sq ft) and comprises a mix of interconnected individual buildings, ranging in size from 115sq m (1,232sq ft) to 631sq m (6,794sq ft). Five of the properties are being sold with full vacant possession, while Murphy’s Ice Cream is on a 10-year lease from 2023 with tenant breaks at years four and seven and a passing rent of €40,000pa exclusive.

Full vacant possession is available in relation to 6 Cook St, where Central Shoes Stores occupies the ground floor. All of the premises are either three- or four- storey buildings, mainly terraced, with one corner unit, and all are zoned under the Cork City Development Plan 2022-2028 for uses to include, but not limited to: retail, residential use, community use, offices, hotels, cultural and leisure facilities, education, healthcare. All have the benefit of prime frontage onto pedestrianised streets which connect to St Patrick’s Street, the main retail street in the city.

Each of the properties has potential access to a range of government-backed incentives supporting city-centre residential development initiatives including Croí Cónaithe (vacant property refurbishment grant) of up to €50k per building or €110k for complex multi-unit conversion; Living City Initiative, a tax-based incentive that provides income tax relief on qualifying expenditure.

Their location should prove attractive to prospective investors and/or owner occupiers, who could benefit from spillover spending from shoppers who come to the city to visit the soon-to-be-expanded Penneys. As the properties sit at the heart of Cork’s pedestrianised retail pitch, surrounded by major retailers like Brown Thomas, Dunnes Stores, Eason, and a number of new entrants to the city centre, footfall is strong. Moreover, the strategic consolidation of adjoining property interests by Penneys in the city, will, according to Savills, underpin longterm occupier confidence within this immediate trading location.

Crucially, the units are not a major redevelopment play — the buildings are in good conditioned and are watertight — and could be refurbished and repurposed, with clear scope to upgrade existing ground-floor retail and to reposition upper floors for alternative use, such as residential, offices, or hospitality — subject to planning.

The properties are offered for sale in one or more lots, with price on application.

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