The first phase of a £350 million commercial/retail complex - the largest such project ever proposed for Cork - has received planning permission from Cork Corporation.
The project, at Mahon Point in the south-eastern suburbs of Cork city, is being developed by O'Callaghan Properties, which also developed the £500 million Quarryvale commercial and retail complex in Co Dublin. The Flood tribunal is expected to ask the managing director of O'Callaghan Properties, Mr Owen O'Callaghan, to give evidence concerning the Quarryvale project in the new year.
In the first phase of the Cork development, planning has been granted for a national trade centre, a 150-bedroom hotel, a leisure centre and a 50,000 sq ft office development.
Planning permission is awaited for phase two, which will include a business park, office and high technology facilities, a retail park and a shopping centre. The two elements of the project will create 3,500 permanent jobs, 2,500 part-time jobs and more than 2,000 building jobs during construction, which will last up to five years.
It is understood a decision by Cork Corporation on the second phase will be made in the near future. Work on the initial phase will be completed at a cost of £80 million.
Welcoming Cork Corporation's decision, Mr O'Callaghan said yesterday: "Provided the rest of the planning permission is granted, the project will reinforce Cork's developing reputation as a location in which to do business."
It is understood that although Mr O'Callaghan has not yet been formally called as a witness to the Flood tribunal in respect of the Quarryvale development, he has been asked to provide answers to a number of questions concerning the genesis of the project. A spokesman for Mr O'Callaghan said yesterday that he had already given detailed responses to the issues raised by the tribunal.