Abbey Fort show units have valuable interior fit-outs

HIGH quality fit-outs worth €50,000 to €70,000 come with three show units being offered for sale at Kinsale’s Abbey Fort development.

And, as the developers have gone back into the planning process to alter the layout and house style offers in the future phases of the large scheme on the edge of the south Cork tourist town, future builds will be different to these competed homes.

Killarney-based Dunboy Construction had bought 22 acres at Kinsale from local builders E&T around 2006, for a reported €30 million, and went for high-energy efficiency homes.

It was one of the first sizeable schemes in the region to offer ‘A’ rated houses with huge energy savings: in all, 260 houses and apartments were envisaged.

About 50 houses have now been delivered, with six or seven left to sell, and three of these are show houses. At the time of the launch in 2007, as the market dip took a plunge, five show houses were completed, by three competing designers.

Now, a 930 sq ft two-bed townhouse and former show unit is being offered with full fit-out at €175,000: in 2007, unfurnished ones were offered at €320,000.

A three-bed townhouse of 1,137 sq ft is priced at €230,000, with fit-out included: unfurnished equivalents had been €375,000 back in the day.

Also at the high-end show house level is a 1,766 sq ft end townhouse, with four bedrooms, asking €300,000 and currently under offer.

Joint selling agents for the three show houses and a handful of other finished Abbey Fort houses are Sherry FitzGerald and Irish and European, with viewings by appointment.

According to Paul Reid of Sherry FitzGerald, the design changes for the future phase of Abbey Fort will be for a more market-preferred design, of more regular and good-sized semis, and detacheds, with the detacheds generally smaller than some of the 2,600 sq ft five-beds that had been approved.

The houses will continue to be timber-frame built and A-rated. They’ve got heat exchange or air source heat pumps, with air tight construction and underfloor heating.

VERDICT: The company has adjusted to where the market is at in terms of price and house styles.

These show house sell-offs have huge comparative advantages, with valuable fit-outs.