Academy St Development
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From today’s Examiner:
International fashion chain H&M are to be one of the key retailers in Cork city centre’s almost completed €500 million Opera Lane development.
In a welcome jobs boost to the city, 100 to 150 jobs are expected to be provided in the store which will open in late autumn.H&M’s long-anticipated arrival will be seen as a boost to the O’Callaghan Properties development on St Patrick’s Street, where identities of new traders have been expected since late last year. The collapse in the retail economy has, however, seen negotiations drag out over a longer than expected period.
H&M’s confirmed arrival to a 27,000sq ft unit at the corner of Academy Street/Emmet Place is expected to trigger several other completed signings from traders keen to ally themselves to such a strong international brand.
Financial director of O’Callaghan Properties Brian O’Callaghan described the development as “great news for the project, and for Cork.”
He went on: “It is a big marquee brand and its arrival is a ringing endorsement of the scheme. We are looking forward to announcing other major names in the coming weeks.”
An OCP spokesperson said that Opera Lane (the original name Opera Avenue has been amended) was 75% let or in advanced legals, and the adjacent Half Moon Street development had 60% of its retail space negotiated, via letting agents Savills.
Swedish-based fashion retailer H&M has more than 1,800 stores worldwide, in over 34 markets, and has 10 outlets already in Ireland, primarily in and around Dublin, but also in Limerick and Athlone.
Good to see they’ve taken our advice and dropped the pretentious ‘Avenue’ from the title.No chance to see it… Is it like the render version?
As expected, NEXT have confirmed as tenants in the Academy Street/Faulkner’s Lane development. Presumably this will lead them to vacate their cramped Merchants Quay store.
@Radioactiveman wrote:
As expected, NEXT have confirmed as tenants in the Academy Street/Faulkner’s Lane development. Presumably this will lead them to vacate their cramped Merchants Quay store.
Merchant Quay has a good few empty units allready.
Time to re-develop that awful mall and Quay facade ?
@Cliff Barnes wrote:
Merchant Quay has a good few empty units allready.
Time to re-develop that awful mall and Quay facade ?
Yes ! Not likely though ?
@Peter Fitz wrote:
Yes ! Not likely though ?
This isn’t really the thread for it, but remember Dunnes may not want to stay put in MQ given their new store on Patrick Street. There was talk a few years back of putting another floor on. Perhaps now is the time for a major re-furb. Remember, the place was built in the midst of the last recession, so its not like OCP don’t have the nerve.
The website for this development is now up and running. Some nice images, virtual walk-throughs, etc. for perusing.
A number of (relatively) minor points still trouble me:
1. The website mentions both Opera Lane and Faulkner’s Lane and in one of the onscreen maps refers to the lane itself as Opera Lane. Can we get this clear? There is no such street in Cork City as Opera Lane. Call the buildings what you want but leave the street names alone.
2. When the former Examiner Facade to Patrick Street was demolished to make way for the glazed structure, the planning permission required the distinctive doorway was to be retained for future use ON-SITE. When/where is this going to happen?
3. Finally (and longtime readers of the Cork threads will, like me, be feeling a sense of Deja Vu) where is the Echo-boy? He used to be at the top of Faulkner’s Lane. Presumably he is to be re-instated?
@Radioactiveman wrote:
This isn’t really the thread for it, but remember Dunnes may not want to stay put in MQ given their new store on Patrick Street. There was talk a few years back of putting another floor on. Perhaps now is the time for a major re-furb. Remember, the place was built in the midst of the last recession, so its not like OCP don’t have the nerve.
Do we need 4+ lanes of traffic on Patricks Quay going into 1 lane on a mostly pedestrianised Patrick Street now that the centre core is bypassed ?
Give 2 lanes back to the developer to extend centre to original footprint of original buildings ?
New facade and extra floor space for larger units is possible.
Its dying a slow death on the mall side and with Opera Avenue etc thats wher the footfall is going to be.
Upstairs in Merchant’s Quay is like a ghost town.
I’ll go back to what I’ve said before, but there aren’t enough cinema screens in the city centre and upstairs in an underused shopping centre is not a bad place to put one. Regardless of whether it’s a cinema or not, in general an entertainment rather than retail use might be a better idea.
Although, ideally, it would be ripped apart and the river frontage rebuilt.
I’m not a fan of the pastiche frontage onto Pana, but it’s not hugely offensive. The same can’t be said for the frontage on the river side.
@Cliff Barnes wrote:
Do we need 4+ lanes of traffic on Patricks Quay going into 1 lane on a mostly pedestrianised Patrick Street now that the centre core is bypassed ?
Give 2 lanes back to the developer to extend centre to original footprint of original buildings ?
New facade and extra floor space for larger units is possible.
Its dying a slow death on the mall side and with Opera Avenue etc thats wher the footfall is going to be.
That’s a nice idea in theory, but just not practical with the current traffic flow in the city. The inside lane is used primarily for waiting buses, and set down for cars and cabs outside the MQ entrance. Next two lanes are for north and west-bound traffic, continuing down the quays or turning onto Patricks bridge. The current street layout leaves only a few route options for any traffic heading north.
As for the centre core being bypassed, it doesn’t work that simply alas. If you try to go from the city centre to anywhere north, you pretty much have to cross either Christy Ring bridge, the North Gate bridge or Patricks bridge. Our narrow streets and bridges have limited capacity and any given afternoon/evening in Cork you’ll see traffic backed down the quays waiting to cross the river.
I’ve spent probably hours of my life stuck in traffic on the quays, or on Parnell place waiting to get through the lights, only for traffic to fail to budge for several successive light changes. I’d be totally against reducing any capacity on the quays until some real remedial measures are taken to improve traffic flow and access.
Any idea would the following work?
- Reorganise traffic lanes between the South Mall, Parnell place, Lapps Quay and Albert Quay to alter priority for northbound traffic out of the city towards the eastern bridges
- Put a single west-bound contra-flow bus lane on south mall
- Replace the chicane outside Argos with a bus gate
- Use the current laneway between Bridewell and Phillips site as a bus priority lane,
- extend right up to the North Gate bridge. Move traffic lanes away from river, using the crappy bit of tarmac (loading area) outside North Main street centre; widen quayside footpaths.
- Better traffic management and enforcement on Shandon street would allow northbound city busses to use this route, thus freeing up capacity on the central quays and allowing for a reduction in lanes and a more pleasant street frontage.
That’s just a top-of-my head idea, and no doubt there are plenty of flaws I haven’t thought of. How about a new thread to discuss ways to improve the city’s traffic flow and streetscape? Or is this too much of a tangent from architecture?
@bosco wrote:
That’s a nice idea in theory, but just not practical with the current traffic flow in the city. The inside lane is used primarily for waiting buses, and set down for cars and cabs outside the MQ entrance. Next two lanes are for north and west-bound traffic, continuing down the quays or turning onto Patricks bridge. The current street layout leaves only a few route options for any traffic heading north.
As for the centre core being bypassed, it doesn’t work that simply alas. If you try to go from the city centre to anywhere north, you pretty much have to cross either Christy Ring bridge, the North Gate bridge or Patricks bridge. Our narrow streets and bridges have limited capacity and any given afternoon/evening in Cork you’ll see traffic backed down the quays waiting to cross the river.
I’ve spent probably hours of my life stuck in traffic on the quays, or on Parnell place waiting to get through the lights, only for traffic to fail to budge for several successive light changes. I’d be totally against reducing any capacity on the quays until some real remedial measures are taken to improve traffic flow and access.
Any idea would the following work?
- Reorganise traffic lanes between the South Mall, Parnell place, Lapps Quay and Albert Quay to alter priority for northbound traffic out of the city towards the eastern bridges
- Put a single west-bound contra-flow bus lane on south mall
- Replace the chicane outside Argos with a bus gate
- Use the current laneway between Bridewell and Phillips site as a bus priority lane,
- extend right up to the North Gate bridge. Move traffic lanes away from river, using the crappy bit of tarmac (loading area) outside North Main street centre; widen quayside footpaths.
- Better traffic management and enforcement on Shandon street would allow northbound city busses to use this route, thus freeing up capacity on the central quays and allowing for a reduction in lanes and a more pleasant street frontage.
That’s just a top-of-my head idea, and no doubt there are plenty of flaws I haven’t thought of. How about a new thread to discuss ways to improve the city’s traffic flow and streetscape? Or is this too much of a tangent from architecture?
It worked fine for hundreds of years with 2 lanes and we even even had a tram system then.
Traffic should adapt to the city not the other way around.
The original footprint and vertical emphasis of the previous merchants quay grew organically and it worked until the whole lot was bought by a developer and left go to ruin which slowly but surely will ironically happen with M.Q.S.C. as more fashionable new centres open up.
Why do we have “waiting” buses in the first place taking up space,burning fuel ineffeciently and poisoning the public ?
The buses shoud keep moving.
Merchants Quay with its traffic dominated streetscape and awful waste that is the quay itself.
@Radioactiveman wrote:
3. Finally (and longtime readers of the Cork threads will, like me, be feeling a sense of Deja Vu) where is the Echo-boy? He used to be at the top of Faulkner’s Lane. Presumably he is to be re-instated?
Good to see that the Echoboy statue has been reinstated on Patrick Street.
GAP are taking 10,000 sq ft at Academy St
Was this officially opened today?
Developer ‘treated badly’ by NAMA
Thursday, 1 October 2009 17:05Property developer Owen O’Callaghan has said he and other developers have been treated very badly in the establishment of the National Asset Management Agency.
Owen O’Callaghan, who developed the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre in Dublin, Mahon Point in Cork, and Arthur’s Quay in Limerick, said all of his loans were performing and there was absolutely no reason for him to have anything to do with NAMA.
However, he said, he and his company were being dragged into NAMA and were being given no say in the matter.
Mr O’Callaghan – one of the country’s biggest commercial and retail property developers – said he was kept in the dark on NAMA’s establishment and he felt he was being treated very badly.
He said he would much prefer to be left alone and have nothing to do with NAMA.
The developer was speaking in Cork at the opening of a new city centre development, Opera Lane, which covers 200,000sq.ft of retail space and which he valued at €500m.
He said the retailers locating in Opera Lane will employ more than 1,200 people.
I think H&M opened.
Not sure about the rest of the development.
It was on the RTE 9 o’clock news last night – the main focus was on O’Callaghan’s feelings about been unfairly treated by NAMA. It mentioned that H&M had opened. Other outlets looked like they were still in fitting out or reserved stage. The aerial views of the development looked really impressive.
H & M are open, Gap and Next are on the way (Next in mid-November, IIRC).
I believe the corner units (Faulkner’s Lane & Patrick St.) are reserved. I’ve heard vague, rumours that Apple are opening a store in the city centre; one of those units would seem ideal for that purpose (purely speculative!!).
Pity Faulkner’s Lane is now the dullest street in the city centre. Two dull, similarly styled shopping blocks running the length of the street. No attempt to have cafes/restaurants/bars to bring a bit of buzz to the lane; or any trees, lamps flower beds anything to provide a little variety. Disappointing.
The Evening Echo says that Apple are in advanced talks with Owen O’Callaghan to open a shop in Opera Lane. I think they might be taking the premises on the corner of Opera Lane and Patrick’s St next to the EBS. don’t know when they might open though.
Interesting confirmation about Apple!
Incidentally, I just read now on the ever-reliable (cough) peoplesrepublicofcork.com that the lane is being renamed to “Opera Avenue”. Puke. Still, nice to think the recession hasn’t stopped our representatives bending to the will of developers…
And also that the right of way is being extinguished – though from the wording on that site, it might just be that it’s being made one – way, from Patrick St. to Emmet Place. Does anyone know anything about this?
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