First time buyers will love this renovated €295k dinky townhouse 

Investors will love No 6 St Dominick's Terrace too, over the wall from the yet-to-be-developed Events Centre

Crosses Green, Cork city
€295,000
Size	55 sq m (592 sq ft)
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	2
BER	C3

URBAN regeneration is the name of the game in certain parts of Cork City and areas lucky enough to benefit should see property values rise. One such spot is the French’s Quay/Crosses Green/Proby’s Quay nexus which has benefited greatly from proximity to the redevelopment of the former Beamish & Crawford site by builders BAM on South Main St. Since then, Cork City Council has spent c €10m on public realm improvements in the general neighbourhood.

Workers on Tuckey St carrying out public realm improvements last July

 Another €7m was spent on a Bishop Lucey Park revamp, while €8.5m was invested in installing two bridges that link the former brewery site to the opposite quays. 

New look Bishop Lucey Park

New bridge linking Lamley's Lane by former Beamish site with Wandesford Quay

Workers putting finishing touches to a new bridge from the proposed Events Centre site to Crosses Green

They will, in time, help funnel the crowds out of the Events Centre — still a pipe dream 10 years after the sod was turned. In the meantime, students will make good use of a handy short cut from the city centre to UCC.

The spate of infrastructural improvements in this historic part of the city, by St Fin Barre’s Cathedral and under the ramparts of Elizabeth Fort, worked well for the builder who bought No 6 St Dominick’s Terrace at Crosses Green last June.

6 St Dominick's Terrace, Crosses Green

 The house he restored is now fronted by a nicely paved walkway that leads to one of the new pedestrian bridges — due to open just as soon as the council completes a riverside walkway. The house is in the city centre and no distance at all from UCC. You’d have to think an investor would love its convenience, not to mention how occupier-ready it is. It’s a totally different property to the rotting, damp home it was when the builder bought it.

'Before' picture of No 6 St Dominick's Terrace, Crosses Green

'After' picture of No 6 St Dominick's Terrace, Crosses Green

“It looked cosmetically OK, but I knew it had been flood damaged during the last big flood, so I knew I would have to gut it. Floor levels were all over the place and the kitchen had rotted. I spent just three minutes looking at it and I could tell everything would have to come out,” he says.

Off came the roof, down came the back wall, out went the kitchen and about 20-odd tonnes of rubble. Layer upon layer of plasterboard was stripped off walls. Floors were dug up. A radon barrier was installed, as well as thick insulation, before new concrete floors were poured. Taking out the back wall allowed him to raise the ceiling height which added volume to the downstairs open plan layout of the living/ dining/ kitchen space.

Open plan living

 He added light by installing a 1sq m skylight over the U-shaped kitchen, which he built.

 He even managed to squeeze in a small utility/ downstairs loo, and while outdoor space is tight, there’s just enough room for bin storage to the rear.

No 6 St Dominick’s Terrace is an exemplar for how to turn a tired and pokey townhouse into a bijou city pad. 

It helped that the builder loves renovating and could call on mates in the trades as they were needed. The entire project took about four months.

“Once I get my teeth into something, I enjoy it. I love working on my own, with the radio on,” the builder says.

And while he did gut the property, he held onto some of the nice bits uncovered during renovations of the compact, end-of-terrace house.

“The fireplace was blocked up, but when I removed the slabs and timber battens, I found an old brick and stone wall. Someone had knocked out a load of brick and rebuilt it with concrete block. There were only two bricks left to indicate where the arch used to be,” he says.

The two bricks were enough to allow him build a new arch using a timber template. He rebuilt it with bricks recycled from the levelled back wall. It’s now a lovely feature in the room and a nod to the early 20th century heritage of the redbrick homes on St Dominick’s Terrace.

The redbrick at No 6 was repointed after a power wash blew out mortar.

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“Someone had painted red over the redbrick — you could literally see the line of red paint between my house and the neighbour’s, so I tried power washing it, but ended up repointing,” the builder says.

The week spent cleaning up the façade paid off. The house is as fresh-faced as the day it was built. The builder paid over the odds for green sliding sash windows with matching front door. The new Brazilian natural slate roof looks good. The newly laid paving outside the house sets it off nicely.

Seán McCarthy and Angela Jordan of ERA Downey McCarthy are selling the three-bed, 55sq m property and they say the builder did a “super job”, achieving a C2 energy rating for a house built in 1908.

“With a guide price of €295,000 we will see first time buyers, but also investors as the property is not rent-capped,” the agents say.

VERDICT: If the Events Centre goes ahead, who knows what the rental potential might be. Super starter home, but investors are likely to swoop.