Ya know the Corkman Irish Bar? The Carlton pub with a facade of heritage significance? The institution that was illegally knocked down, instantly boosting the underlying property’s value?
Yeah, that one. Insanely, that pub’s already twisted story has somehow become even worse for its developers, ’cause their draft plans for a 12-storey apartment tower have been uncovered.
What’s more is that the architects commissioned to draft the plans reiterated the fact developers Stefce Kutlesovski and Raman Shaqiri would need to retain the building’s historical facade if the tower were to go ahead.
Obviously, that didn’t happen. The opposite happened, really.
In a letter sent to Planning Minister Richard Wynne last week, Shaqiri said the draft was merely a mock-up to demonstrate the potential of Corkman’s land, and that “there was no intention to build on the site.”
In any case, an apartment tower is the last thing that’ll be built on the site. Wynne reiterated that constraints have already been put on the site’s future developments, making it very difficult for Kutlesovski and Shaqiri to build anything other than another two-story pub to replace the one they razed.
Police are still investigating the cause of the fire which the developers say necessitated the building’s demolition. Somehow, even removing the debris proved to be an issue for the developers; the rubble contained asbestos, and they didn’t get the right permit to transport it across town.
Next, we’ll probably find out they unwittingly opened a portal to hell underneath that prime real estate. Watch this space.
