The property at 1 Prussia Street is listed as a three-storey house, but the ground floor is basically just a corridor. The appeal of this house is really in the eye of the beholder – a glass half full or empty scenario. The entrance, a modest doorway situated beside McFadden’s pharmacy, leads through a meandering corridor with a narrow staircase to the two upper floors and a door to the rear garden.
The property itself is jaded and needs upgrading but, despite this, two of the three reception rooms situated on the first floor are spacious, as are two of the bedrooms which lie – with the same footprint – on the top floor. New owners are likely to amalgamate the front and back reception rooms into one open-plan kitchen-dining area since the kitchen which lies on a small return is very small. It will be tricky, if not impossible, to extend the house itself – as the adjacent pharmacy owns all but a path directly to the rear of the house, but it is the space beyond – which stretches over two garden lengths – that is of interest.
The garden, which includes an outhouse, runs to more than 23m (75ft) in length and to the rear again is a garage extending to 40sq m. What is of significance here is that the garage and boundary forms an entire wall on to Fingal Place and has double steel doors on to the street that have been used for access and off-street parking.
This is where the engagement of a good architect comes into play and perhaps a planning consultant can guide on exactly what may be permitted through current building regulations. Given the considerable frontage – more than three car spaces wide – on to Fingal Place, there is potential for development for at least one unit. Selling agent Carol Foley of REA Fitzgerald Chambers suggests two units, but all would be subject to planning permission. It doesn't feature in the sales photographs but an aerial view through Google Earth really shows the potential here.
Gentrification
Stoneybatter has undergone extensive gentrification over the past decade, and is dominated by two-bedroom cottages averaging about 60sq m and commanding an average of €350,000 depending on condition. The price of this property at 155sq m (1,673sq ft) for €580,000 with such a large rear space and with good development potential is sure to attract attention. The new DIT campus – just off Fingal Place – is set to have 10,000 students and 600 staff when complete. Nearby, number 14 Prussia Street, a 222sq m property in nine units with no rear access, has just been listed as sale agreed for €770,000.
