Key site in Blarney back on the market
Having once been eyed by some of the then-biggest names in Munster’s development sphere, and reportedly with eleven acres being sold for up to €25 million to Howard Holdings in 2007, it’s now back for sale and for development, with a loose €3 million/€4 million price guide indicated.
Offered this time via local estate agent Daniel Fleming for its owners the Blarney Group, represented by Freda Hayes of the Kelleher family/Blarney Woollen Mills, there’s 8.58 acres of level serviced development land by the village square, and he gives a guide price of €400,000/€500,000 per acre.
The original 90-bed Blarney Park Hotel was built by the Kelleher family of Blarney Woollen Mills renown, and today they still control a 48 bed hotel at the Woollen Mills complex, the centre of a dynasty that spans a range of tourism interests in Blarney as well as the diverse Meadows and Byrne homewares and online sales. The Blarney Group now employs c 500 across all outlets.
Back at the former Blarney Park Hotel site, there’s accessible mains services, water and sewers and it is ideal, Mr Fleming says, for mixed use development and can accommodate housing, as well as commercial uses such as hotel/leisure, offices and retail.
Cork County Council has recognised the site as occupying “a strategic location on the western edge of Blarney,” but notes “its proximity to Blarney Castle makes it a sensitive site, where any future development will need to protect and enhance the existing character of the area and views of the Castle.”
As part of a larger redevelopment site (including the old Joe O’Reilly lands, to the right of the 2008 picture above) there’s a need to respect the special wooded and river nature of the setting, castle proximity and linkages/access and realignment of the R617. The 2015 LAP suggests a range of town centre uses “including a hotel, a leisure centre, offices, residential and appropriate, convenience, comparison and tourism related retail uses.”
Back when last formally offered in 2007/2008 via Savills/DTZ, it had a €20m guide and was pitched as a Village Centre opportunity, with scope for a c 130-bed hotel.
At the time, Blarney had a population of c 2,500, and Cork County Council had envisaged population growth to 7,500 by 2020, much of that predicated on the development of the master-planned Stoneview site north of the town near the still-struggling Blarney Business Park.
The original, highly-regarded Blarney Park Hotel and its Inglenook function room (it was a hugely popular weddings venue) closed in 2007, and the leisure centre was damaged in 2008 by a fire, while the site which also had parking for 300 cars was subsequently cleared, waiting for its time to come once more.
Now, almost ten years on and with a post-crash development market picking up recovery pace, there’ll be certain interest in this 8.58 acres in the very heart of Blarney.
Doing a retail deal with a discounter will bring some immediate payback in this low-key ‘satellite’ town, and suitable housing so close to the centre would be very popular.
According to Daniel Fleming “there should be good local, national and even international interest because of the reputation that Blarney has, and the site has a mix that will suit all types of development.”
Interest previously was shown by retail discounters such as Lidl and Aldi, and back when terms were being discussed with Howard Holdings, there also had been reported inquiries from the likes of Shipton Group/Piton Properties, O’Flynn Construction and others.
First moves to redevelop the Blarney Park Hotel site in 2007 came after the 2006 opening of the Blarney Golf Resort, which was developed by a local consortium at a reported cost of €40 million and initially trading as a Ramada.
That golf resort scheme, including 61-bed hotel, 38 golf lodges, leisure centre and golf course all on 160 acres, sold after a series of price drops from the €20m once sought in 2009, to eventually sell to a Northern Ireland investor in 2014 — for €2.5 million.
: Daniel Fleming & Co 021-4385524
