One of the State's biggest developers has confirmed it will seek planning permission from Cork County Council for a €250 million mixed-used development in Cork Harbour which is expected to create up to 1,000 jobs.
Howard Holdings, which developed the City Quarter in Cork, announced it will seek permission for a development incorporating retail, residential, office, hotel and leisure uses on an eight-acre site at Passage dockyard.
Chief executive Greg Coughlan said the project would comprise 100,000sq ft of retail space, including a supermarket, bars and restaurants as well as 50,000sq ft of offices and a 100-bedroom hotel.
It would also include 406 residential units, with one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and duplex units, 1,200 underground parking spaces, an 8,000sq ft leisure centre and a 290-berth marina for private and public use.
The project would open up the town to the waterfront, create a living and working community and address a variety of amenity deficits as well as eliminate what has been regarded locally as a disruptive, dusty and noisy docklands industry, the firm said.
"Passage West . . . is a historic town, a conservation area and is close to Cork city," said Mr Coughlan. "The challenge for us as developers has been to handle the task sensitively and to create a project that will be uniquely attractive and complementary."