As Cork's Patrick's Street prepares to undergo a £7 million (€8.89m) facelift, part of the overall renewal programme for the city, the fact is that retail space in the heart of the commercial centre is no longer available. Zone A properties in Patrick's Street are averaging £140 (€177.76) per sq ft but are hard to come by nowadays with almost 100 per cent occupancy of existing retail space. On the South Mall, the position is the same.
There has been no major retail/office development in the city centre in recent years and the focus of attention now is turning to the docklands area, which will fuel the next concerted phase of development near the city.
The plan for the docks will open up major opportunities for investors during the next 10-year period. British consultants Urban Initiatives, who have been commissioned to plan the project, are engaged in initial consultations aimed at bringing the private and public sectors together in what should be one of the most exciting developments in the recent history of Cork.
The ultimate aim is to make the now somewhat decrepit docks area an integral part of the city's business life through a mix of housing, a lively retail and commercial presence and amenity space skirting the banks of the River Lee. The cost of the project will run to hundreds of millions and while the local authority will smooth the way through the provision of incentive schemes as well as infrastructure, the project will be financed largely by the business sector. In the meantime, given the absence of suitable office/retail space in the main shopping area of the city, the tendency increasingly has been for firms to look to suburban business parks for their requirements.
Occasionally, stand-alone buildings such as that owned by Hibernian Insurance at Wilton become available and when they do, interest is brisk. The 13,000 sq ft Wilton building which has already attracted an offer of £1.8 million (€2.29m), is one example, according to Hamilton Osborne King. The slowdown in the American economy had affected the commercial sector, Mr Peter O'Flynn, of Colliers Jackson Stops said, but confidence had been returning slowly. The University Technology Centre, a joint development in the western suburbs between UCC and O'Flynn Construction, offered 110,000 sq ft of office space and has just been completed. There is 90 per cent occupancy including companies like CMG, Fleur Daniel, Silicone Systems and De Care Delta Systems.
Other business parks relieving the demand for city centre space, according to Mr Peter O'Meara of Hamilton Osborne King, include Riverview at Mahon, a 66,000 sq ft complex developed by Cado Systems Ireland; the 25,000 sq ft National Software Centre, also at Mahon; the Kenny Group's Model Business Park, launched recently, which will see the development of 29,000 sq ft of the former Liebert factory in the first phase.
The park is adjacent to the existing Cork Business and Technology Park and is expected to realise £15 (€19) per sq ft. Another Mahon development is the Heritage Business Park (30,000 sq ft) by the Lane Group. The configuration of Cork's core retail centre and continuing demand for space, now at a premium, is likely to keep that segment of the market fairly buoyant for the foreseeable future, according to analysts. Despite some misgivings initially by retailers worried about the major commercial/retail developments planned for Mahon and Little Island, signs are that the traditional shopping centre will continue to hold its own.
