Building is live at the marquee site with first homes due in early 2027

A spokesperson for the developer, Glenveagh Properties plc, told the Irish Examiner that the site is “progressing well”.

“All the piling has been completed and the ground-floor slab has been poured. Structural erection is now underway and the project remains on track for 337 apartments to be completed over the course of 2027,” the spokesperson said.

The 337 units are being funded by the state-backed Land Development Agency (LDA), as part of a €150m first-phase deal brokered with Glenveagh last month. Under the terms of the transaction, the LDA bought the homes through a “forward funding” mechanism.

LDA chief John Coleman said the new homes will “form part of a wider development that will ultimately transform the area and allow for the delivery of new amenities and facilities”.

“Marina Quarter will be a fantastic place to live and it’s great that high-quality and A-rated cost-rental and social homes will be part of the housing mix,” he said.

Cork City Council is currently overseeing substantial improvements to the public realm in the immediate area, having overhauled the former Cork showgrounds near Supervalu Páirc Uí Chaoimh a couple of years ago.

The broader docklands area - 146ha - has been earmarked for a regeneration project of international scale, with €353m of government money committed to the 20-year project.

Stephen Garvey, chief executive of Glenveagh Properties, said they were “excited to partner with the LDA to deliver these new cost-rental and social homes in what is going to be a superb place to live”.

“Marina Quarter is a significant project for Glenveagh and underscores our commitment to public-private collaborations to deliver much-needed housing,” Mr Garvey said.

Glenveagh had already developed a number of affordable purchase houses with the LDA, “and we now look forward to completing our first LDA cost-rental apartments”, Mr Garvey said.

“Its forward funding of these apartments is a welcome endorsement of the quality of our plans and recognition of the high-quality homes Glenveagh delivers,” he added.

The LDA confirmed the first apartments are due to be delivered on the 12-acre (5ha) south docklands site early in 2027, “with full completion by Q3 2027”. The main contractor is Limerick-based Conack Construction, currently shortlisted for the Project of the Year Award for its work on the Moxy Hotel and Residence Inn on Camden Quay (Irish Construction Excellence Awards 2025/Leisure & Tourism Building).

The LDA’s involvement in the Marina Quarter is in phase one of a wider multi-phase project by Glenveagh, which will deliver 1,178 apartments in the Marina Quarter, at what was once the distribution site for car manufacturer Ford. The entire development, bordered by Centre Park Rd, Monahan Rd, and the Marquee link road, will include 14 blocks, ranging from four to 14 storeys, over three phases.

The LDA-backed units were secured under its Homebuilder Partnership Framework (Project Tosaigh). They will include 260 cost-rental apartments (available at c25% below the local market rent) and 77 social housing units, along with six commercial units across four blocks.

The cost-rental homes include 12 studios, 84 one-bed, 119 two-bed and 45 three-bed apartments, while the social homes include 18 one-bed, 50 two-bed and nine three-bed apartments.

The Glenveagh/LDA Marina Quarter project is the largest residential development in the south docklands, following An Bord Pleanála’s decision late last year to shoot down an application by O’Callaghan Properties (OCP) to build 1,325 homes at the nearby Goulding fertiliser site. The only other apartment scheme of scale underway in the docklands is on Horgan’s Quay, north of the River Lee, where BAM/Clarendon Properties have made good progress in the construction of 302 apartments, which also have LDA backing.

Across the river, on Kennedy Quay, OCP has plans for a €350m mixed-use development, including two apartment blocks of about 80 units each.

Construction work has not yet started.

The LDA’s recent partnership with Glenveagh and its involvement on Horgan’s Quay bring to three the number of sites on which it is currently active in Cork City, which, between them, will deliver more than 900 homes.

The third site is up in Shanakiel, at the former St Kevin’s Hospital, where it’s delivering 266 homes, with the first units expected to be completed by the end of the year. The mixed tenure scheme of 46 townhouses and 220 apartments/duplexes will be available as cost-rental, and affordable and social homes.

Cost rental aims to provide a secure, long-term rental option at below-market rates for those who do not quality for other state supports, but are struggling to afford to rent in the private market.

The LDA is also planning to build almost 350 homes at a former ESB site in Wilton and it has plans for 140 homes at Anglesea Terrace in Cork City. Additional sites being looked at by the LDA include the ESB’s former coal-burning power station site in the Marina and a Bord na Móna site on nearby Monahan Road. The LDA reckons that, between them, the two sites could yield around 900 homes.

Nationally, progress on the delivery of new homes is behind government targets. Figures just published by the Central Bank (Q1, 2025) predict housing completions to reach 35,000 this year, down from the 41,000 target set by the Government.