Fionn Laoi development offers value and quality

THEY didn’t have a brass band in Ballincollig last week, but McInerney’s new Fionn Laoi scheme did have a showhouse stand-off.

Their three and four-bed semis, designed by Karl Fradgley and Jackie Crowley, gave viewers a good idea of what’s on offer in the estate on the west of Cork city.

And what showhouses. Using the standard fittings, but with colour, fabric and more than a little panache, both designers made the most of the large rooms.

The new Cork scheme was launched in April with prices ‘reflecting market realities’.

McInerney’s certainly give bang for a buck in Ballincollig, where 1,301 sq ft three beds are on offer at €345,000. Move up the scale to the four-bed semi and you pay €390,000 for a 1,461 sq ft house.

Sales have reflected the value and quality on offer: there are 12 of the units sold already and nine in this phase are still left to sell.

Also, there are large, detached houses on offer, with two of four, 1,603 sq ft houses remaining at €550,000.

The century-old building firm are deliberately offering large houses in this low-density scheme running down to the river Lee at Poulavone.

It’s a gorgeous spot and the planners made sure that just 135 units can be built here on a 55-acre site.

Another stipulation is an amenity zone with playing fields and a river walkway.

These will have to be built at the completion of 60 of the total development, so amenities will be well bedded down before Fionn Laoi is finished.

The location, so close to the village and local schools, has already brought in buyers from Ballincollig and Bishopstown, says Con Nagle of Global Properties, and the results have been very heartening in a still market, he adds.

He and Gillian Ryan of Irish and European even ran out of price lists on the Sunday of the showhouse opening, and they expect strong interest again this weekend, between 3pm and 5.30pm.

McInerney’s Monsfield, Rochestown scheme has had significant reductions, with a minimum of €100,000 slashed off the asking price of three houses types.

The group filed pre-tax losses of €53.6 million in August and lost over a quarter of its market value.

McInerney’s have since put substantial cost-cutting measures in place and have reduced guide prices on their finished properties in an effort to increase sales.