All’s ship-shape in Cobh with €1.5m building sale floated as cruise ships on crest of a wave

Cobh was a hive of activity coinciding with viewings of Casement Square investment property with €158,800 rent roll 

When your ship comes in:  6-7 Casement Square is guided at €1.5m by agent Will Lyons of ERA Downey McCarthy

THE vendors of a money-spinning €1.5m property in a town currently swamped with cruise ships may be hoping that when their own ship comes in, it will carry more success than the fated vessel associated with the building’s address, Casement Square.

Casement Square's 6-7

First viewings of the mixed-use 6-7 Casement Square in the centre of Cobh took place on Tuesday, on the day when the Regal Princess cruise ship — capable of carrying 3,600 passengers and 1,300 crew — berthed in the Cork harbour town, bedecked with bunting and resplendent in Victorian-era finery.

Members of the Irish Navy standing to attention at the Lusitania monument during the 2015 centenary commemoration in Cobh, Co Cori. Picture Dan Linehan

“It was a hive of activity, the place was buzzing,” says estate agent Will Lyons of ERA Downey McCarthy, who is selling
No.6-7 Casement Square, in the centre of scenic Cobh.

The square is called after the patriot Roger Casement, who was arrested and tried for treason after a failed attempt to land 20,000 rifles from the German ship the Aud on Kerry’s Banna strand for the 1916 Rising.

Casement Square is also home to the striking bronze Angel Peace memorial sculpture, commemorating those who died on the Lusitania in 1915 after it was attacked by a German U-boat.

Ironically, Casement had been due to rendez-vous with the Aud via a German submarine and supervise the landing of the arms just a year after the sinking of the Lusitania by a submarine: it’s an event etched in Irish and international memories, linked to the Munster port and harbour town also associated with the ill-fated maiden voyage of the Titanic in 1912.

Sir Roger Casement, Captain Robert Monteith, and Daniel Julian Bailey transferring to the U19 German submarine on the way to the Kerry coast in April 1916. Picture: Cork Public Museum.

Now, over a century later, ERA auctioneer Will Lyons is hoping the allure of a financial return of almost 10% will successfully float some buyer’s boat.

He had a fair share of viewers lined up to go through No.6-7 on the day the Regal Princess docked less than 500m from Casement Square. It’s a four-storey, 6,000sq ft-plus property with retail at ground and 10 en suite bedrooms, capable of topping the current €158,800pa on present rates and occupancy.

At that, and at a guide of €1.5m, the investment property will give a return of 9.63%, he says, adding it can be bought with vacant possession. Several prospective buyers believe it can rent for yet higher returns.

Interior of 6/7 Casement Square

It is being sold for private owners who bought it in the late 1990s. Previous uses include a pub and restaurant. There have been significant upgrades and steel reinforcements to the Victorian building to allow it to have updated internal uses.

BER-exempt, it has rented extremely well, typically for short periods of two to three weeks to visitors to Cobh and will function as a B&B or Airbnb-type operation in the future (and thus not bound by RTB restrictions), and is in excellent condition.

Nos 1-3 West Beach is sale agreed

• Meanwhile, also in Cobh, Mr Lyons confirmed sale terms are now agreed on No.1- 3 West Beach and Pearse Square, a mixed-use Victorian property with retail at ground and six overhead apartments which he launched in February at a €890,000 AMV, at a current rental income of €50,00 but capable of returning €92,000pa if fully let.

The sale price hasn’t been divulged but is understood to have made around the AMV.

ERA Downey McCarthy: 021 4905000.