Premium hinterland address worth getting crabby over

WITH an address like Cork’s Crab Lane, can you afford to do anything by halves?

That’s the question that will exercise the crabbed minds of those viewing Atina, a semi-detached cottage in this premium address between the city’s Blackrock Road and the Boreenmanna Road.

Crab Lane might be narrow, and there’s a highly regarded national school on its length, but it is a super-convenient location, with some mega-buck properties in its immediate hinterland.

Atina, one of the more modest “old guard” homes hits the market with agent Timothy Sullivan after its other half/adjoining semi-d has just gone Sale Agreed after a bit of a bidding frenzy.

That house next door was offered as a sub quarter-acre site, or at the very least a chance to build onto and upgrade, at the €300,000 mark, which — however — proved extremely cautious, even in the current market. In the event, the unlived in cottage was so actively and vigorously pursued by a keen handful that it ended up selling for over €500,000 via agents Sherry FitzGerald who refused to confirm any details of the agreed deal.

Now, Tim Sullivan has the other half of what could prove to be a very interesting picture, or just something to appeal to disappointed underbidders.

In much better overall shape, and occupied, Atina is a single storey two-bed home with good living/dining room, kitchen/breakfast room, bathroom and two bedrooms, in a great mature setting with tended gardens, plus garage.

Mr Sullivan calculates it is on about one fifth of an acre, and on the site map it appears the equal at lest in area to the one next door. He says the house could be extended, or developed much further. What’s the chance someone will try to put the two houses and gardens together to make one cracking (albeit doubly expensive, €1 million-plus) site?