Aylesbury has been well worth the wait for high-spec homes in Ballintemple

Centurion Homes halved the mooted density and are developing 74 high-spec homes in Cork’s Ballintemple, at market-savvy prices, writes Tommy Barker

Ballintemple, Cork - €290,000-€750,000

• Size: 807 sq ft – 1,819 sq ft
• Bedrooms: 2-4
• Bathrooms: 2-4
• BER: A2
• Best Feature: Fresh

THE development of the old Eircom site in Cork’s Ballintemple has been years, and years, and years again, coming to market, always carrying the promise of being one of the southern city’s best remaining traditional suburban brownfield development sites.

You can hardly blame its developers, Centurion Homes who have residential projects in train in both Dublin and Cork, and with more sites yet to come. Once they got their hands on it, they rocked into the planning process for a very different mix to what Eircom/Eir had offered it with, getting a very savvy market mix of new homes for a product-starved market: they have halved the density, and upped the quality of design.

Perhaps with a doff to the capital’s finest addresses, Centurion Homes (it’s part of the wealthy Clarendon Properties group) they’ve called this new development, and their first Cork suburban foray, Aylesbury.

It’s a spelling twist on one of Dublin’s truly premier and leafy southside addresses, Ailesbury, where houses routinely sell for multiples of millions of euro, as they do close by too in the neighbouring D4 address of Shrewsbury, where one house, Walford, has famously various sold at market peak for €47m, and more recently for €14m... and which may yet be knocked.

Cork already has a Shrewsbury, a scheme of 1970s brick-built homes on the Ballinlough Road; now, it has a Aylesbury to match, only spelled with a ’y’, not an ‘i’.

Only in May, did Centurion Homes broke ground on this prime Ballintemple site, right next door to Cork Constitution rugby pitches: by this weekend, they have a number of houses built, landscaping’s being smoothed out inside impressive pale brick boundary walls and pillars, and a showhouse opens today and tomorrow, the highly-anticipated launch, of the mid-to up-market scheme Aylesbury.

Has any new homes scheme in Cork made such progress, in such a short time frame? Hats off, including the builders’ hard hats: it’s a cracker, and both fresh and good looking into the bargain.

Aylesbury’s going to comprise 74 new homes, a mix of three-storey four-bed detacheds, some two-bed apartments, three-bed duplexes, and four-bed townhouses.

That’s almost half the 144 units (which included 116 apartments) proposed back in 2011 by Eircom on the five acre site, acquired last year by Centurion for €4m, or €800,000 an acre, or €55,000 per average house stand.

Design of the slick, brick and painted render (with zinc detailing above the doors) is by Kinsale architect Richard Rainey, and the decision to use timber-frame construction fast-tracked the build process, ensured delivery to tight timelines, and meant being able to hit a rare A2 BER thanks to off-site construction and high airtightness levels (via Cygnum), says Centurion Homes director, Cork-born Noel Barry.

Once more, artist and interior stylist Niamh MacGowan has worked on the interior look and feel for Centurion Homes, as she did in their Kinsale collaboration at the successful and sold-out Rainey-designed Ard an Cluain Mara project. And, as in Kinsale, Savills are the selling agents, with director Catherine McAuliffe and new homes agent Elizabeth Hegarty handling the sales, with 14 homes being released from today in the first phase, and one’s pre-sold, an end-terraced 1,765 four-bed townhouse.

There’s an example of most types being released from today’s Phase 1 launch, and Aylesbury’s dedicated website had over 700 name pre-registered, with prices being confirmed to those who’d registered a few days ago.

They range from good-sized two-bed apartments (with side access), of 807 sq ft at prices of €290,000, with three-bed duplexes above them, with internal front access and 1,378 sq ft over their two levels, and are priced at €385,000.

Almost half of the scheme’s total of 74 units are the four-bed townhouse model, each of 1,765 sq ft, and are priced at €510,000 for mid-terraced and €530,000 for end terraces with gable box window (the pre-sold one, No 9, overlooks Cork Con’s pitches). It’s the first time the mellow Belgian brick, St Ives Cream Rustica, rustic creme, is being used in Cork, and it sets a tone from the curving front pillars inwards, with a cycle lane running along the exterior on Churchyard Lane, by Cork Con, and the detached house all have charging points for electric cars.

There’s a pretty full spec and fit-out, including a choice of kitchens and Silestone worktops, bathrooms have pressurised showers/water supply, windows are aluclad by Munster Joinery with large feature sliders, and heating is provided by A-rated air-to-water heat pumps, with heat recovery/air recirculation, plus underfloor heating at ground level, with Evonic log-effect electric fires in the reception rooms.

Exteriors and interiors are painted, in Colourtrend hues — designer Niamh MacGowan reprises some assertive touches in the showhouse, including rooms with ceilings painted the same colour as the walls, and even wallpapered ceilings in the show unit’s pantry/utility, while the front room has wood-panelled walls, also matching ceilings hues.

About the only finish choice new owners will face (including colours) will be flooring, says Centurion’s affable Noel Barry, while Savills say the first house will be ready to move in to occutooamn very early into the New Year.

If the house quality doesn’t sell itself fairly easily to would-be buyers, the location should seal the deal for quite a few home-hunters.

The setting is as easily reached from the city centre as it is from the booming employment hub that is Mahon/Skehard Road.

There are also plenty of sports facilities about. There’s rugby alongside at Cork Con, and soccer with Avondale in the acres of public park at Beaumont Quarry (where there’s also a pitch and putt course). There’s rowing on the Marina, and GAA at Blackrock, if not Douglas, as well as tennis in Ballinlough by another public park, and golf at the visionary, municipal harbourside course at Mahon.

Set here at the upper reach of Ballintemple, the location also straddles both Douglas and Blackrock’s amenities, with walks in all directions. There’s a very regular bus service passing Aylesbury’s doors, and the Boreenmanna Road gives a direct run too to the city’s link road too.

VERDICT: A calling card of quality for Centurion Homes into Cork city’s suburbs, with Ballintemple ‘buy-in’ prices from under €300k, to the mid €700k range — thankfully, well short of Monopoly board sort of sums. This Cork site’s been a long time coming, but now seems so worth the wait.