27 June 2017
By Bryan Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
Cork City Council has agreed to the sale of 7-9 Parnell Place and 1-2 Deane Street to Tetrarch Capital Ltd.
Tetrarch’s proposal for the property includes a budget boutique hotel and a separate designer hostel with ground floor restaurants and bars.
Cork City Council bought the properties in a strategic move to promote economic development in the city centre and to facilitate the renewal of strategic city centre listed buildings that were in a derelict and dilapidated condition.
They were acquired from Oyster Developments Ltd (in receivership), Padlake Ltd (in receivership) and John Myers in 2015 and 2016.
The protected structures, former warehouse buildings, date from the mid 1800s and extend to an overall site area of 0.45 acres. According to Lisney, the property attracted interest nationally and internationally culminating in offers by interested parties on March 30.
Cork City Council’s vision for the site was that the re-development of the buildings would serve to link the city centre eastward towards the harbour and would underpin the Parnell Place precinct as the western end of the City Harbour District.
Lord Mayor, Cllr Tony Fitzgerald said: “The Council’s purchase and sale of this high-profile site has maximised the benefit to the City of these properties. Their architectural heritage will be protected and their new usage will bring about employment and add further to the city’s growing tourist offering in the city centre”.
Lord Mayor Tony Fitzgerald
A new hotel is proposed by the Dalata Group opposite the site and it is also in proximity to 1 Albert Quay and O’Callaghan Properties’ €90 million development of Navigation House, also on Albert Quay. UCC also has plans to develop a new Business School at the nearby former Cork Saving Bank building. Cork City also has also invested €2 million in improving public space at Parnell Place.
Six proposals were received by Lisney with each party outlining their vision, use and design approach for the future redevelopment of the property together with a financial offer.
The proposals received were all reviewed by an Independent Assessment Board and five parties were asked to re-submit a more detailed proposal and financial offer. All short listed proposals were reviewed and assessed by a multi-disciplinary Assessment Board on behalf of Cork City Council. The Assessment Board made its recommendation which has been accepted by the senior management of Cork City Council including the Chief Executive.
The recommendation of the board was to accept the proposal put forward by Tetrarch Capital Ltd and this was subject to full Council approval tonight, June 26.
Tetrarch is one of the largest independent hospitality companies in the country whose current portfolio has over 1,800 bedrooms across hotels, resorts and hostels including The Marker, Powerscourt Hotel, Mount Juliet, Citywest Hotel and The Dawson Hotel Dublin.
