Don’t even try to keep up with the neighbors, or at least one neighbor in the case of this currently deserted-looking house in a half-acre yard in Cork’s Shanakiel – it’s just a mile from the HQ of Ireland’s largest Apple company , which posted a profit of 29 billion euros last year.
The tech giant, which has been on the north side of Cork in Hollyhill since the mid-1980s, has seen a good global pandemic, with a huge surge in iPad and iPhone sales around the world and revenue of 121.9 billion euros in the last year.
Apple CEO Tim Cook at Apple HQ in Hollyhill, Cork, during his visit on Nov. 11, 2015.
What is good for Apple is good for Cork. In recent years, Apple’s physical presence in Hollyhill has grown to approximately one million square feet and employs approximately 6,000 people.
At the beginning of the year it was announced that Apple was also occupying a considerable amount of office space in the “city center” at Horgans Quay, next to Kent Railway Station.
The tech monolith can immediately accommodate 400-500 employees, has options for additional office space in the same development, and continues to rent space on Half Moon Street, so the Apple boom in downtown Cork will grow.
But in the case of Windgates’ core values, we’re talking about Cork’s Uptown, so to speak, in the long-populated place called Shanakiel, above Sunday’s Well and right on the Hollyhill / Blarney / Kerry Pike course, Shanakiel Road.
Healthy gardens at Windgates
The green space of the cul-de-sac where Windgates plays is in sharp contrast to the passing bustle, while the location is also within easy walking distance of Cork city center, either via Sundays Well or across the Shakey Bridge to Mardyke and / or UCC.
Less than two dozen single-family houses were built here in the post-war period of the 20th century. This was followed in the 1970s by another larger cluster of larger houses called Ashboro, on land that was once attached to the former Shanakiel Private Hospital, which has been the home of the Pieta House charity for suicide awareness and prevention since 2018.
There are some fairly extensive and exceptionally private homes in these lofty areas, some of which are receiving costly eco-renovations and wraparound and sunny additions.
Now it is Windgates’ turn.
Probably dating from the 1950s, it is a two story freestanding c 2,500 sq ft, and that measurement includes an attached garage with roof space, and most of the main rooms have a full south side.
Ripe for renewal
Previous owners appreciated the potential for solar gain when they grafted a simple, attached conservatory on a section of the south facade in front of a large L-shaped reception room. It’s just a hint of what might be coming now, something that is certainly much more substantial and sustainable, possibly even passive and entirely solar powered.
As it stands, it’s a blank and raw canvas and carries a € 725,000 price guide quoted by real estate agent Brian Olden of Cohalan Downing Associates. So if it is sold for such a sum it will surely be a new owner with a view to a total investment in new apartments north of € 1 million.
How far north is an open question, if not an open checkbook.
Front / driveway, with garage
The price register has 102 sales in the last decade with a Shanakiel address, of which only 12 have exceeded $ 500,000 and four have exceeded $ 600,000, while one of the stronger most recent is the very well-preserved but outdated 7. The Grove made 470,000 euros earlier this year.
Windgates’ rooms include a living room, dining room, TV room, kitchen and utility room, one of the five beds has its own bathroom and the property is presented as it is or even as it was.
Reception rooms
There has not been a fruitless attempt to put it up for sale in-house as it will sell by environment, location size, aspect and future prospects.
The BER is a low G, and regardless of any expansion, windows, insulation, heating, plumbing, wiring and energy upgrades will be required to meet new stringent standards.
The good news with all of this to-do list, however, is that undressing to pave the way only removes things that are long past their prime: it’s not like throwing away things that were only a few ago Years have been added and that could cause a sting to replace it.
Mature terrain a real draw
The sellers say the privacy of the Windgates property “provides great protection from prying eyes,” adding diplomatically that there is now “a wonderful opportunity to build a real quality family home on half an acre of mature land. The whole thing is in need of a complete renovation, but the “bones” of the property appear to be in order. ”
CONCLUSION: The bones may be good, but they need a little more than just cosmetic fillings. But at € 725,000 AMV you could buy 166 million homes at the price of Windgates for the size of the neighbor’s € 121.9 billion Apple sales in 2020 …….
Comments are closed.