North Cork co-op Dairygold is seeking planning permission for a €100 million commercial and retail development in Mallow that would create 400 construction jobs and attract an estimated 70,000 shoppers a week to the town.
Dairygold's property subsidiary, Alchemy Properties, lodged the planning application with Mallow Town Council for the mixed-used development. The company says the retail outlets would generate an estimated annual turnover of €50 million.
Alchemy Properties' managing director Michael Hogan said the proposed development would be built at an existing Dairygold property on the northern edge of Mallow town centre, near the Park Road, and would include more than 1,000 parking places.
"This scheme . . . will attract new investment into Mallow, helping to transform the area," said Mr Hogan.
The development would comprise 24,224sq m of retail space, including conventional retailing and retail warehousing units; 5,387sq m of office and leisure space; 2,445sq m devoted to restaurant and pub use; and 2,941sq m of residential units including townhouses and duplexes.
Mr Hogan said the development of the site would involve the building of a new southern access route linking the main Cork-Limerick road to the Park Road.
The site is now partly occupied by a 4Home superstore/home and garden outlet, which would be expanded.
Mr Hogan said the development team had carried out extensive survey work and research into flood levels.
The development would be built taking into account the case history of the area and flood levels from the nearby Blackwater identified by the Office of Public Works.
A decision on the planning application is expected this winter. If it is successful, work would begin next year.
The proposed development would take two years to complete and would provide construction employment for an average of 400 people over the span of the building schedule, he added.
Alchemy Properties was established earlier this year to manage and develop Dairygold's property portfolio.
The proposed redevelopment of the site in Mallow is its second major scheme to be announced in recent months, following the proposal for the development of a €25 million scheme in Midleton in May.