The Elysian (Idle tower)

eth0

Whats the story with this yoke now? Has there been any reduction in prices to buy or rent? Is it still owned by the crowd that built it or been passed onto NAMA?

I remember when the thing was just finished they wanted 4,000 a year in management fees alone. Now you can obviously rent a quite nice apartment for just that

EyeSight

eth0 wrote: »

Whats the story with this yoke now? Has there been any reduction in prices to buy or rent? Is it still owned by the crowd that built it or been passed onto NAMA?

I remember when the thing was just finished they wanted 4,000 a year in management fees alone. Now you can obviously rent a quite nice apartment for just that

i know that once it was built they only put a number of them up on the market because they wanted to get maximum value once the recession ended. however i'm not sure they knew it would last this long....
i also heard(and this is only a rumor) that delegates of china bought a few

... where are there nice apartments for 4000 per annum to rent?

evilivor

eth0 wrote: »

Whats the story with this yoke now? Has there been any reduction in prices to buy or rent? Is it still owned by the crowd that built it or been passed onto NAMA?

I remember when the thing was just finished they wanted 4,000 a year in management fees alone. Now you can obviously rent a quite nice apartment for just that

It's in NAMA.

Owen

RoverJames wrote: »

... where are there nice apartments for 4000 per annum to rent?

I was thinking the same. 4k is 330 a month! The cheapest apartment in Cork is double that!

The Elysian is a beautiful building in my opinion, and if I didn't have a business to run, I wouldn't mind living there. The penthouse has a Porsche designed kitchen. Insane stuff - real remnants of the Celtic Tiger.

eth0

There are some things in daft for ~75 a week on Daft. they wouldn't be the best but feck it they don't require you to spend a few 100k on buying the apartment first before you can rent it at that price. If you go to the smaller towns you can get nicer apartments for the same amount.

What services would they provide for the 4k?

Owen

75 a week sounds like a share or dingy bedsit/flat rather than an Apartment on it's own?

eth0

Owen wrote: »

75 a week sounds like a share or dingy bedsit/flat rather than an Apartment on it's own?

Haha could be alright. maybe rent hasn't dropped so much in Cork as in other places.

I just know in letterkenny there are nice places for 60, but unfortunately when I tried to rent them they asked

"Are you a student?"

"Thats right"

"Oh..... reference ... deposit ... the owner doesn't want to hear about students"
and every other excuse they could think of

evilivor

According to a feature on the Elysian's developer in the Sunday Times today: "about 30 of its 211 apartments are occupied but Nama has given approval for more rentals. Sales are not being considered for now."

Owen

They're probably talking about the rest of the complex though, the tower seems to be permenantly empty.

mik_da_man

There are at least 3 apartments occoupied in the tower.
I know of one guy living up there, but he said it' pretty damn quiet

H8GHOTI

RoverJames wrote: »

... where are there nice apartments for 4000 per annum to rent?

Owen wrote: »

I was thinking the same. 4k is 330 a month! The cheapest apartment in Cork is double that!

The rent isn't 4k a year.
OP said management fees were.

daveyjoe

H8GHOTI wrote: »

The rent isn't 4k a year.
OP said management fees were.

No, read it again. He said you could rent a nice apartment for 4k a year.

eth0

eth0 wrote: »

Whats the story with this yoke now? Has there been any reduction in prices to buy or rent? Is it still owned by the crowd that built it or been passed onto NAMA?

I remember when the thing was just finished they wanted 4,000 a year in management fees alone. Now you can obviously rent a quite nice apartment for just that

H8GHOTI wrote: »

The rent isn't 4k a year.
OP said management fees were.

I know what the OP said

That chap that was on the apprentice two years back used to live in the Elysian in a penthouse, something Walsh, forget his first name, poker player chap, his Dad owns Walsh's engineering supplies.

daveyjoe

RoverJames wrote: »

I know what the OP said

That chap that was on the apprentice two years back used to live in the Elysian in a penthouse, something Walsh, forget his first name, poker player chap, his Dad owns Walsh's engineering supplies.

Kieran Walsh

... I'm confused are you the same person as H8GHOTI? The OP said you could rent a nice apartment in Cork for €4K/year (which is equivalent to the management fees at the Elysian), at no point did anybody on the thread think that the rent for an apartment in the Elysian was €4k/year (as you implied).

Anyway this is all off-topic so I'll stop now

daveyjoe

daveyjoe wrote: »

Kieran Walsh

... I'm confused .:..............at no point did anybody on the thread think that the rent for an apartment in the Elysian was €4k/year (as you implied).

Anyway this is all off-topic so I'll stop now

Where did I imply that?

daveyjoe

RoverJames wrote: »

Where did I imply that?

I thought you were the same person as H8GHOTI since you replied to my post that was adressed to him. Anyhow no worries, best leave my handbag at home for this one.

FungiWalsh

RoverJames wrote: »

I know what the OP said

That chap that was on the apprentice two years back used to live in the Elysian in a penthouse, something Walsh, forget his first name, poker player chap, his Dad owns Walsh's engineering supplies.

I can tell you without doubt that this isn't true.

Oops, 'twas someone working for his Dad had told me that.

opus

eth0 wrote: »

Whats the story with this yoke now? Has there been any reduction in prices to buy or rent? Is it still owned by the crowd that built it or been passed onto NAMA?

I know someone living there, their rent is €1300/month. So if you use the normal rent to value calculation (rent x 11 months x 15 years) you get a value of ~€214500 for that 2-bed flat, the asking price is north of €600k :eek: so would anyone be surprised that it's empty & going to stay that way for a long time to come!

iliketeaandcake

Judging by this video it has been put to good use by a nimble mad man..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdLuIRSpcsQ

The ground floor of the tower has been used for art exhibitions last year. It is completely unfinished - no lighting/heat etc. I was informed that the few residents of the tower had to be moved out and reimbursed due to management and security costs not being met. It is basically a shell. The apartments beside it however are part of the same complex and are somewhat inhabited.

bladebrew

there is someone that posts on here that made an offer on an apartment and was told they dont accept offers:eek:
this may be the guy from the apprentice,

they have a good website in fairness, floorplans for all the apartments
http://www.theelysian.ie/

i would love a look at the triplex penthouse!

iDann

I think Apple should open their first official store there,it would suit them.

GavRedKing

bladebrew wrote: »

there is someone that posts on here that made an offer on an apartment and was told they dont accept offers:eek:
this may be the guy from the apprentice,

they have a good website in fairness, floorplans for all the apartments
http://www.theelysian.ie/

i would love a look at the triplex penthouse!

A few stock pictures from inside but ya can get the gist of it.

Looks great.

http://www.property.ie/property-for-sale/The-Elysian---Type-W20---3-Bed-Triplex-Penthouse-The-Elysian-Cork-City-Centre-Co-Cork/441612/

http://www.christiesrealestate.com/Property/Ireland/Cork/69054

^ €2,000,000. :pac:

Oafley Jones

iDann wrote: »

I think Apple should open their first official store there,it would suit them.

Not really,

1. It has no architectural merit. It really is a dreadful looking building.

2. It's in a terrible location.

eth0

iDann wrote: »

I think Apple should open their first official store there,it would suit them.

I think Apple should go and take a long walk off a short pier or the top of the Elysian. I'm using a Mac now and my god it is some hape of shoite

out da lough

The views from the Elysian must be great. The only problem I would imagine for someone living there now is that they will get used to the peace and quiet, and when the place eventually fills up (as it will do) they will have to get accustomed to all the noise and bustle.

I would imagine it will take about ten years for it to be filled, which will be 2022.

evilivor

out da lough wrote: »

The views from the Elysian must be great. The only problem I would imagine for someone living there now is that they will get used to the peace and quiet, and when the place eventually fills up (as it will do) they will have to get accustomed to all the noise and bustle.

I would imagine it will take about ten years for it to be filled, which will be 2022.

You'd think so - but they're rather overwhelming - you get no sense of the scale of the city in the same way as you do from the top of County Hall - the views south are okay, but the city views are rather, dull. I was in the penthouse suite for an event and I wouldn't take a present of it.

The only way the building is ever going to fill up is if the City Council take it in hand and fill it with tenants.

gbee

Oafley Jones wrote: »

Not really, 1. It has no architectural merit. It really is a dreadful looking building. 2. It's in a terrible location.

This was built at the edge of the site on demand from the then City Manager to force a streetscape. This precise location within the same site was not it's original position.

We will probably end up with three towers, one where the old CIE freight yard is, on down near old Dunlops and this one.

It has been suggested that these towers were to go to the new quarter old Dunlops/Ford site but this has not materialised. IMO it was an opportunity missed as we'll have awkward fingers in the sky and no shape.

gbee

out da lough wrote: »

and when the place eventually fills up (as it will do) they will have to get accustomed to all the noise and bustle.

Ya, it'll be another Ballymun.

ResearchWill

iliketeaandcake wrote: »

Judging by this video it has been put to good use by a nimble mad man..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdLuIRSpcsQ

The ground floor of the tower has been used for art exhibitions last year. It is completely unfinished - no lighting/heat etc. I was informed that the few residents of the tower had to be moved out and reimbursed due to management and security costs not being met. It is basically a shell. The apartments beside it however are part of the same complex and are somewhat inhabited.

The story of people being moved out, in relation to any part of the building is an urban myth. How do I know, I live there and have done for almost 3 years. The complex is maintained to a very good standard, the garden is kept very well with a guy working on it a fair bit. Security is very good with a person on reception 14 hours per day, then a remote presence at other times. I am renting, as soon as the place fills up I'm out of here it's lovely at the moment but 211 apartments full would be a nightmare.

daveyjoe

ResearchWill wrote: »

The story of people being moved out, in relation to any part of the building is an urban myth. How do I know, I live there and have done for almost 3 years. The complex is maintained to a very good standard, the garden is kept very well with a guy working on it a fair bit. Security is very good with a person on reception 14 hours per day, then a remote presence at other times. I am renting, as soon as the place fills up I'm out of here it's lovely at the moment but 211 apartments full would be a nightmare.

What's your rent like if you don't mind me asking. You can PM me if you'd prefer.

daveyjoe

iliketeaandcake wrote: »

Judging by this video it has been put to good use by a nimble mad man..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdLuIRSpcsQ

That video is fake by the way, bit of green screen magic!

mambo

The Elysian (Idle Tower) is being discussed on the RTE Liveline right now
http://www.rte.ie/radio1/liveline/

opus

Couldn't resist the comparison, so for €650k you can have an (admittedly nice) flat on one of the upper floors of the Elysian tower built on a busy traffic island in Cork or a 55 bedroom hotel sitting on 3.2 acres on the coast line in Donegal!

Ludo

opus wrote: »

Couldn't resist the comparison, so for €650k you can have an (admittedly nice) flat on one of the upper floors of the Elysian tower built on a busy traffic island in Cork or a 55 bedroom hotel sitting on 3.2 acres on the coast line in Donegal!

Pointless comparison...apples and oranges...

cork_south

opus wrote: »

Couldn't resist the comparison, so for €650k you can have an (admittedly nice) flat on one of the upper floors of the Elysian tower built on a busy traffic island in Cork or a 55 bedroom hotel sitting on 3.2 acres on the coast line in Donegal!

haha, good comparisson.
I'd take the hotel, but I think the heating costs in the winter might be a bit steep

imitation

I'm really not sure why they built it, high rise makes sense when the price of land is too high AND when the commute into the area begins to take ages. Cork is so small its hard to see why anybody ever thought it was a good idea, celtic tiger madness I guess.

I do actually kind of like it, possible because it reminds me of the citadel from Half life 2 http://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/13/12001/citadel3.jpg

Sephiroth_dude

daveyjoe wrote: »

What's your rent like if you don't mind me asking. You can PM me if you'd prefer.

I would like to know this too,I think I saw on daft.ie before that they were looking for 1300 a month

Rhys Essien

There might be new tenants in the near future.:D

Solair

I think we should rename it either the Marie Céleste, or the "Empty State Building", which is what the Empire State Building was referred to as during its early days. It was largely unoccupied for years after its was completed

RadioClash

Should be used as an incubator for small tech/business start-ups. Cheap short term leases for those with good ideas who otherwise couldn't afford office space. They do something similar for artists in the old FAS building.

ResearchWill

RadioClash wrote: »

Should be used as an incubator for small tech/business start-ups. Cheap short term leases for those with good ideas who otherwise couldn't afford office space. They do something similar for artists in the old FAS building.

The webworks building right next door to the Elysian all ready provides that service to new small business. http://www.webworkscork.com/, as most of the Elysian is apartments it would not really be suitable for such a scheme.

tonymontana82

having worked there for over a year i can tell ye that the apts aint exactly the highest of standard, just made to look good with a fancy kitchen & fancy lighting controls. they are still fantastic but no way are they worth the prices. its sickening really to watch it all go to waste.

Madam_X

Wtf were they thinking?! Even if the bubble hadn't burst, it just seems like a stupidly extravagant, pointless exercise - pretending Cork was Manhattan kinda thing!

Yeh, people I know who viewed it said they weren't impressed. Rents are pretty affordable there now. Best white elephant example ever.

Solair

I don't think the demographic to fill those kinds of buildings exists in Cork or even in Dublin to be perfectly honest.

You need a cluster of businesses that attract international types for 1 to 2 years. Cork doesn't have anything like that. It's more something you'd expect to see in a drastically bigger city like Brussels.

Also, the apartments seem too small and too low spec to be long-term prospects for a couple with a family.

Then couple that with the fact that for a similar price, you can pick up a charming victorian house, or a 1930s, 40s, 50s well-proportioned suburban house within a short walk from the city centre in somewhere like Blackrock or Montenotte or the Western Suburbs.

The quality of accommodation isn't even remotely comparable - decent garden, total control over the exterior, room to keep several cats as opposed to insufficient room to swing a cat, free on-site parking, free places to put a shed to store your stuff, somewhere to have a BBQ on the 1 day of summer, somewhere to put a swing... Not to mention freehold tenure and no management fees or complications of dealing with management companies.

I can't really see what the attraction of a major apartment building is, unless housing within reasonable distances from the city is unaffordable or unavailable.

Part of the charm of a small city like Cork (or Dublin, Belfast etc) is that it is a very liveable, pleasant city with lots of space and nice houses with big gardens. Apartment living's usually more of a necessary evil than something that people aspire to do and in Ireland and Britain it's still rather sneered at as some kind of a temporary situation that you might do before you have kids / before you get a 'proper house'.

ResearchWill

Solair wrote: »

I don't think the demographic to fill those kinds of buildings exists in Cork or even in Dublin to be perfectly honest.

You need a cluster of businesses that attract international types for 1 to 2 years. Cork doesn't have anything like that. It's more something you'd expect to see in a drastically bigger city like Brussels.

Also, the apartments seem too small and too low spec to be long-term prospects for a couple with a family.

Then couple that with the fact that for a similar price, you can pick up a charming victorian house, or a 1930s, 40s, 50s well-proportioned suburban house within a short walk from the city centre in somewhere like Blackrock or Montenotte or the Western Suburbs.

The quality of accommodation isn't even remotely comparable - decent garden, total control over the exterior, room to keep several cats as opposed to insufficient room to swing a cat, free on-site parking, free places to put a shed to store your stuff, somewhere to have a BBQ on the 1 day of summer, somewhere to put a swing... Not to mention freehold tenure and no management fees or complications of dealing with management companies.

I can't really see what the attraction of a major apartment building is, unless housing within reasonable distances from the city is unaffordable or unavailable.

Part of the charm of a small city like Cork (or Dublin, Belfast etc) is that it is a very liveable, pleasant city with lots of space and nice houses with big gardens. Apartment living's usually more of a necessary evil than something that people aspire to do and in Ireland and Britain it's still rather sneered at as some kind of a temporary situation that you might do before you have kids / before you get a 'proper house'.

I live in the Elysian, the apartments are not small, I'm in the mid range apartments which is 1250 sqfeet plus 150 sqfeet balcony. The apartments range from 950 to over 3500 so small they are not.

While apartment living is not perfect for family it's ideal for many and with 211 apartments there they could fill them.

omerin

I hope these apartments fill up soon. Sure it was an ambitious project, but I'm glad this development was done in my city. This country needs risk takers, people who see the bigger picture, all be it better regulated. To quote George Bernard Shaw "Some people see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never were and say, why not?"

Solair

ResearchWill wrote: »

I live in the Elysian, the apartments are not small, I'm in the mid range apartments which is 1250 sqfeet plus 150 sqfeet balcony. The apartments range from 950 to over 3500 so small they are not.

While apartment living is not perfect for family it's ideal for many and with 211 apartments there they could fill them.

950 - 1250 sq ft compares well to new-build houses, but again, it doesn't compare all that well to older stock (pre late 90s), particularly when you include large gardens.

The 3500 sq ft units are just the small number of penthouses ?

The Elysian apartments were envisaging getting €375,000 to €2,000,000 at launch which turned out to be completely unrealistic.

They will need to drop to realistic price levels before you'll see any major uptake on those units. Banks are also not lending for smaller apartments, so any small units in there may not sell too easily at all.

From what I can gather from various reports, the only sign of life (and a very weak one at that) in the Irish housing market at the moment is in older (1920s-60s) largish family homes with good proportions. Anything else seems to be stagnant.

I think we have to accept too that Irish people (and a lot of UK residents too) simply opt for houses over apartments as there has never been any tradition of living in urban apartments other than perhaps London and a couple of big cities in the UK.

Lack of regulation of apartment complexes in both Ireland and Britain has also led to a lot of problems with lack of adequate management structures, maintenance etc. If some of those issues were addressed, apartment living may become more attractive.

I know the Elysian's developers had a much grander idea than the usual pokey-apartment and they did put in some nice features like the communal gardens and other facilities making it far more like a continental block, but I think it will either have to be re-thought and re-marketed before you'll see significant uptake.

It also needs to get all that retail space leased too which is going to be very difficult in this climate.

The property market being totally flat at the moment is not going to favour anything other than 'safe options' like the traditional suburban house.

tonymontana82

true the larger penthouses are very big but the smaller 1s going for 375.000 are very small, still lovely but i thought they would be around the 100.000 mark. when i said in an above post about working there & not thinking they were built to the highest standard, what i ment was for the price they cost. so i hope i have not offended any1 living there .
It would be sickening for those people though when the prices drastically take a drop which is evident. how are the commercial units doing??

pwurple

I think the Elysian gets an undeserved bashing every now and then. It is a block of apartments in the center of the city. Exactly where a block of apartments should be! They have parking available... which is my bugbear with every other set of apartments in the city. That central garden is over an acre, and well maintained. There is decent ceiling height in all of them, and proper soundproofing. I don't know another complex which is anything like that.

I love the views from up in the tower, and the space in those other units (the low-rise ones) with big terraces is very good for such a central location.

When you consider blocks of flats with no facilities plonked in the middle of nowhere, I actually think this one was well designed and properly planned. Even some of the semi-ds built over the last decade have low ceilings, postage stamp gardens, and no parking. Plus you can hear your next door neighbours chewing the walls are so thin. it is almost as if someone who had lived in a ciy themselves designed them. They seem set up for city living, rather than designed for short term renters.

I'd buy one if I could afford one of the bigger ones for families. I'd love to live in the city center.