Top-notch €795,000 apartment in 250-year old Blackrock village 'block'

APARTMENT hunters who fell in love with the saintly, converted former Ursuline Convent allure in Cork city when sweet and sizeable No 16 came for sale earlier this year but got blown out of the water in bidding now have another chance to buy into the assuredly upmarket development.

Two-bedroomed No 15 in the top-notch convent conversion, now called Blackrock House, is fresh to market, and as it’s guided at €795,000, it’s more than a half a million euros cheaper than what its ‘Big Sister’ No 16 sold for.

The reason? It’s not near as big, at 1,500 sq ft vs 2,500 sq ft in the case of No 16; it has two instead of three bedrooms but to be honest, No 16 was and is possibly the best apartment in Cork city. That now holds a price record of sorts, at €1.35m on the Price Register, bar one as large or larger sold for c €2m to a private buyer on the tippy-top of the Elysian tower by City Hall, at the property market’s last tippy-top, in 2008.

A full two centuries, and more, separate the 21st century Elysian and the good bones of Blackrock House/former Ursuline  Convent.

The origins of Blackrock House date back to the 1770s when it was built for the merchant classes and called Pleasant Fields; it then went into religious order hands in 1825.

Its history has since been well documented in these pages, via various developer and entrepreneurial hands, and it’s fair to say no-one who had hopes for it over the past 20-plus years was prepared to cut corners in its conversion.

That was evident in the resale of No 16, the scheme’s original stunning show unit with its double aspect and interior fanlights and other grand touches, which first sold for €908,000 in 2018 to buyers returning from Australia.

The buyers from 2018 put it for sale in summer of this year, guiding €1.195m. and it made €1.35m, a 50% uplift in values over the six-year period.

Back at the end of 2023, No 17 Blackrock House sold, in an off-market deal for €900,000. It was a two-bed, and so is probably the better price comparison for today’s offer, No 15.

Starting with wind in his sales is Trevor O’Sullivan of Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty, who says there’s already interest shown as it launches, and who knows the building and location pretty well as he got the buyer a few months back for No 16.

It’s got an identical location; some of the same views from the windows and the same 12’ ceilings; has a smaller internal fanlight and same high end finishes, district heating, plus a superb kitchen by local firm Linehan Design; security features (gated entrance, intercom access, camera), and communal great hall too inside doors which have hung for centuries.

It also has the same landscaped garden/grounds access, as well as a Juliet-style glazed door/balcony overlooking the rear gardens (most apartments here don’t have private outdoor space such as balconies, patios, etc).

And while it’s 1,000 sq ft shy of the most recent sale, it also is two thirds the price No 16, give or take.

Lisney’s Mr O’Sullivan says the two-bed (one en suite) very decent sized No 15 with very substantial main kitchen/ living/ dining is “distinguished, and stands as a testament to refined elegance, representing a pinnacle of sophistication within the Cork property market.”

Blackrock village, pier and weekend market are on the doorstep, as are cafes and bars and Marina walks: there are service charges of €4,390 pa, and the sale includes a designated car parking space, plus visitor parking.

He can expect traders-down, traders-up, and relocators/overseas inquiries.

Among the surprises the market often throws up was the sale he had of a detached, modern build off the city end of the Blackrock Road to a buyer from the US, who came to Cork to play the Old Head Golf Links, and found the city above par for his tastes too.

VERDICT: It’s Pleasant Fields time all over again at Blackrock House