Cork City Council is in the process of acquiring 30 derelict city centre properties and sites by Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO).
This is part of a redevelopment ahead of the city hosting European Capital of Culture in 2005. The council is dealing with over 160 city centre sites.
A council spokesperson confirmed yesterday it has placed 30 of these sites on its acquisition programme.
"We will be compulsorily acquiring these sites where possible," the spokesperson said.
"Some are cases where we are assisting the owners to improve title to the property by acquiring the site under the Derelict Sites Act, whereby the city council obtains freehold title."
There are 47 of the 161 sites on the council's Derelict Sites Register, leaving the owners liable to pay a derelict sites levy of 3 per cent of market value per annum.
Since the Derelict Sites Act 1990, Cork City Council has opened 600 files, half of which are no longer derelict.
Over 120 sites have been compulsorily acquired by the council in the last decade, including the birth place of writer Frank O'Connor which was fully renovated last year and now houses the Munster Literary Society at 84 Douglas Street.
In preparation for European Capital of Culture, the main drainage works have been finished on Patrick Street, and the repavement of the street is now in its final phase. The completion date is July.
Since 2002, planning permission has been granted for over 1,400 apartments in the city. Work has also commenced on a major hotel-conference centre on Lapp's Quay.