FOUR house sites are being offered for sale in Cork city’s Shanakiel, between Sunday’s Well and the enormous Apple HQ campus in Hollyhill, where yet another further significant expansion has just been signaled which could accommodate up to 1,300 employees in offices by 2025 — subject to planning permission.

Also subject to planning permission will be four proposed sites in the grounds of a detached family home called Thomond, which sold in recent months for €1.02 million, according to the Price Register.

Now, a firm called Darcor Developments Ltd, associated with Cork businessman and publican Tom Scriven who built up the Rebel Bar, Group in the 2000s, is seeking to sell serviced sites in the grounds of Thomond for detached new houses of 250/260 sq metres each, with the offer of a “start-to-finish” package with a builder.

Estate agent Kevin O’Sullivan of Barry Auctioneers is handing inquiries and says there’s already preliminary interest, describing the setting as “top-end, and in a very sought-after location” within a walk of the city centre, UCC and hospitals.

The property Thomond is bounded between Shanakiel Road opposite Mount Prospect and The Grove, and the entry point will be accessed from Shanakiel Park, near the former private hospital, now occupied by the charity Pieta House after a purchase and upgrade by developers JCD Group.

The four subject sites here at Thomond will be on c one-sixth of an acre each, and the original mid-1900s five-bed 2,150 sq ft house is to be retained by its new owners, says Mr O’Sullivan: the original Thomond (centre pic) on a full acre, with old stone wall boundaries, went to market in autumn last, 2021, with a €875,000 AMV and which tipped over the €1m mark in the end after bidding, with the development scope uppermost in most viewers plans.

The sites are guided at €375,000 to €400,000, will be serviced, have paths etc and Darcor is to go for planning for c 250 sq m builds, and clients/buyers can adapt or change to their needs after, depending on planning.

VERDICT: Going this route may take some pressure off those nervous about building from scratch. But, construction costs are at a high level right now, so all-in spend will be a lot more again, perhaps c €200 per sq ft, or €500,000+ to build and finish to a high standard.