The long-awaited redevelopment of Cork's Good Shepherd Convent, a former Magdalene laundry, has been given the go-ahead by An Bord Pleanála.
Over 200 high-end residential units will be built on the elevated eight-acre site which is beside Cork City Gaol in the Sunday's Well area of the city - just over 1kms from the city centre.
Built in 1881, the Good Shepherd Convent was the site of an orphanage and a Magdalene laundry until the late 1970s.
Three main buildings - a home, convent, and orphanage - have been in a derelict condition since a serious fire in 2003.
The laundry building was among a number of buildings that were destroyed in that fire.
A number of attempts to develop the prime site have been made over the last 10 years. In the mid 1990s UCC had plans to use the site for academic purposes. Later, developer PJ Hegarty sought to build student accommodation at the convent. Neither of these developments came to fruition.
In 2005 Cork-based developers Frinailla Ltd purchased the site for €20 million.
Going against the recommendation of its own inspector, An Bord Pleanála has now granted permission for a large residential scheme, which will see apartments provided in the three listed buildings and further apartments, duplexes and townhouses built on the site.
The residential scheme, designed by Reddy O'Riordan Staehli Architects, will be developed around three formal courtyards. Around 50 per cent of the site will be open space. Nearly all of the units will face down over Cork city.
Apartments will range in size from 51-148sq m (550-1,600sq ft) and townhouses will be around 186sq m (2,000sq ft).
It is expected that the average price of a two-bedroom apartment at the scheme will be €450,000.
The developer had originally sought to build 274 units but this has been reduced to just over 200 by the local authority and the planning board.
A graveyard on the site - where more than 300 nuns are buried as well as an unknown number of women who worked in the laundry - will be retained and opened up to the public.
