Construction work on a major €500 million retail and residential development on Patrick Street in Cork city centre could start as early as next March.
Cork City Council has granted planning permission for the development by O'Callaghan Properties on the site of the former Irish Examiner building on Academy Street. It will result in the addition of more than 200,000sq ft (18,580sq m) of retail to Cork city centre as well as the construction of between 60 and 70 apartments.
The project, bordered by Patrick Street, Academy Street, Bowling Green Street and Emmet Place, is expected to attract 200- 300 new residents into the city centre while it will also see the creation of the first new residential and retail street in the city centre in 200 years.
Owen O'Callaghan, managing director of O'Callaghan Properties, said the addition of significant retail space in the heart of the city's shopping district would significantly add to retail choice in Cork and enhance the city's marketability as a shopping and visitor destination.
"It will attract retailers previously unable to locate in the city centre because of lack of space and facilitate those already trading who have been precluded from expanding," he said.
Planning permission was sought last March but Cork City Council has told the company to make a number of changes, including a reduction in the peak height of the project from eight floors to 6½ floors.
According to sources, Mr O'Callaghan paid almost €100 million in a series of property and lease deals over two years to buy the acre of land. The main deal was the purchase of the Irish Examiner building on Academy Street, for a sum believed to be €37 million, from Thomas Crosbie Holdings Ltd.
