Savills has welcomed the decision by Cork City Council to grant planning permission for the €50 million redevelopment around the old Capitol cinema – the .63 acre city centre site with frontage to both St. Patrick’s Street and the Grand Parade and adjacent to the English Market.

The JCD project will provide capacity to deliver 450 new jobs for Cork, in addition to 200 construction jobs, creating a new iconic and timeless landmark for Cork and breathing much welcomed new life to the western side of the city centre.

Following the positive planning decision, Peter O’Meara and Leigh Hegarty of Savills – who have been appointed as letting agents for the scheme commented;

“This is a fantastic and rare opportunity – and likely to be the last for some time – for large-scale retailers to enter or relocate to Corks prime thoroughfare. The various configurations available enable one large (up to 100,000 sq ft) or a number of mid-sized unit retailers (up to 40,000 sq ft) to be accommodated within the scheme. It is a very exciting project for Cork City Centre and one which will transform and significantly enhance what is Munster’s premier retail high street destination. We have already received a number of enquiries from both local and international retailers.”

St Patrick’s Street has witnessed strong activity in recent months, with a number of new high profile lettings as well as additional acquisitions by existing investors on the Street, which looks set to create some additional opportunities for retailers, albeit on a significantly smaller scale.

Superdry, Holland & Barratt and Pandora are all due to start fitting out their new stores in the coming days on Patrick Street, with recent new store openings including Hairspray, Skechers and Starbucks. Savills are currently concluding six other high profile deals on St Patrick’s Street and Opera Lane.

The Capitol is a new top tier opportunity for the Street, which will complete the transformation of St Patrick’s Street and its retail draw to Cork City Centre.