Property developers, charities and retailers challenge inclusion in new residential land tax
90 submissions were made to a draft map identifying land in Cork which has been zoned and serviced.
Dairygold subsidiary Watfore Ltd, UCC, Dunnes Stores, Lidl, ESB, The Society of African Missions and Blarney Castle Estate are amongst 90 groups and individuals appealing inclusion by Cork City Council on a map for a new tax on vacant but residential zoned lands.
The Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) of 2021 applies to land zoned and serviced for residential housing developments.
The RZLT is intended to incentivise landowners to activate planning permissions, or to engage with planning authorities and seek planning permission on land which is suitably zoned and appropriately serviced. Under the RZLT, landowners will be taxed 3% of the value of the land from 2024 onwards.
Amongst the submissions to Cork City Council asking to be excluded from the new tax are:
Leeside Quays Limited. The company, set up in 2019, owns significant chunks of land around the Docklands, including where Gouldings Fertilizer is based. One of the reasons Leeside Quays Ltd provided for exclusion from the RZLT is because “the land may be required for future transport facilities and infrastructure” citing the proposed Cork Light Rail Transit (LRT)” a project which could take decades to complete, if it’s given the go-ahead.
Progressive Strategic Partners DAC. Closer to the city centre at Albert Quay on the site of Carey’s Tool Hire and the former Sextant Pub which was demolished in 2020, Progressive Strategic Partners DAC stated in its submission that while the original intention was to build a residential development on that site, that’s no longer a viable economic option. A report by CBRE Cork for JCD Developments in 2019 proposed developing 201 apartments at the Albert Quay site. However, since December 15, 2021 Progressive Strategic Partners DAC has licenced Park Facilities Management Ltd, a property maintenance company, to operate from the Albert Quay premises. To that effect, Progressive Strategic Partners DAC said it is no “longer vacant or idle land.”
CPR Properties, which owns the land on which the Marina Market is located, also asked to be excluded, stating that the land is in use as a commercial premises and is liable to commercial rates. In its submission it stated that “the property is fully operational and is occupied by Right Price Tiles as a storage unit and the Marina Market, open 7 days a week as a food emporium, traders’ market and event space.” The City Council turned down a planning application by CPR Properties in November 2022. It also refused the popular food market “retention of their current change of use”, citing transport infrastructure along Kennedy Quay as a major factor.
In its submission Blarney Castle Estate outlined that the parcel of zoned land between Blarney and Tower to be included in the RZLT would be visible from Blarney Castle. “The potential negative impact of high density residential development makes the Residential Zoning and the Strategic Landmark Building status incompatible.” It also said that the removal of native woodland, which is reaching maturity, would be a loss to the biodiversity of the area, adding that: “Blarney Castle Estates (BCE) currently provides extensive, publicly accessible woodland walks on their private lands. Long term, there is potential to incorporate this parcel of land to the benefit of the public, by linking it with the existing woodland walks.”
Watfore Limited, a property management and development subsidiary of Dairygold, has previously featured in T+D. Previously it was the owner of a site at the end of South Terrace in the city centre which UCC bought for €17.25m in 2019. Challenging the inclusion of a site it owns at Station Road in Blarney, Watfore Ltd stated that since 2021 the premises “have been occupied by SOS 24-hour breakdown and recovery service on a short-term lease.”
The Society of African Missions (SMA) submitted challenges on four different sites it owns. It noted that three sites, two on the Blackrock Road and one in Wilton, are currently used for education and recreational purposes. The largest site, more than 2.4 hectares at Spur Hill, is currently being grazed by a farmer, but part of the site is included in the proposed City to Viaduct Greenway. In its submission it stated that “the remaining land will be made available in time.”
Really informative