Home truths: Upper-floor twilight zones with potential for tens of thousands of homes continue to rot in a housing crisis

A suburban Dublin bar I worked at for seven years during my school and college years was built in the Edwardian period; right on top of a row of much older mill workers' cottages. Meantime upstairs it had a residence that nobody lived in. Nor had done for decades.

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Irish Independent

9 hours ago

• Irish Independent

Home truths: Upper-floor twilight zones with potential for tens of thousands of homes continue to rot in a housing crisis

A suburban Dublin bar I worked at for seven years during my school and college years was built in the Edwardian period; right on top of a row of much older mill workers' cottages. Meantime upstairs it had a residence that nobody lived in. Nor had done for decades.

Daily Express

15 hours ago

• Daily Express

Argus Residence: Celebrating the memories of a former Eurasian ‘enclave' in George Town

Published on: Friday, June 20, 2025 Published on: Fri, Jun 20, 2025 By: Opalyn Mok, Malay Mail Text Size: The Argus Residence by GTHH is now open for booking. — Picture by Opalyn Mok GEORGE TOWN: Every evening along a short narrow lane, just behind the Assumption Church in George Town, shrieks of laughter would fill the air as children ran and played. It was a time before there were many cars on the roads and that narrow lane was a playground for the children living in the row of five terraced houses. Advertisement 'It was like a dead end because the road leads to a narrow back lane so cars didn't come in,' said Stan De Souza. The 86-year-old was one of the children who used to run and play along Argus Lane back when Eurasian families lived in that row of houses. That was between the 1930s to the early 2010s, a period of over 70 years. The five terrace houses, built in 1928 and owned by the Church of the Assumption, were rented to the Eurasian families. Advertisement 'We were like one big family where everyone knew everyone who lived there,' De Souza said. Among those who lived there were the De Souza, Scully, Newman and Cutter families. De Souza, who lived in the first house of the row, said his parents lived there from the 1940s. 'We went through World War II here, watched the bombs drop, hid in our homes,' he said. He remembered going to school at the nearby St Xavier's Institution before it was bombed during the war. 'After that, school was in a small attap house next to Convent Light Street,' he said. He reminisced about going back to study in a newly built St Xavier's Institution when he was in Form Four. 'I came back in January this year, wondering what happened to my childhood home when I met the George Town Heritage Hotels (GTHH) people who were restoring the buildings,' he said. GTHH has leased the row of houses from the church and restoration started last year. Today, Argus Residence is an extension of Seven Terraces Hotel — also a part of GTHH — and they are connected by a back lane. Each of the houses is named after each Eurasian family who lived there; Dragone, Cutter, Newman, Scully and De Souza. According to De Souza, Dragone was his mother's maiden name. 'My mother was Sybil Dragone and she was a teacher at Convent Light Street,' he said. 'I hope to book a weekend in this house one day and bring my siblings and our families to relive our memories growing up here,' he said. The last of the Eurasian residents living there was Ann Cutter who died a few years ago. Her niece, Corinne Cutter, who used to live in one of the houses too, remembered the strong sense of community among those who lived there. 'We used to gather outside and sing Christmas songs during Christmas,' she said. GTHH unveiled the Argus Residence yesterday and invited some of the former residents to visit the newly restored buildings GTHH founder Chris Ong said the residences are decorated in an eclectic Edwardian mid-century style; a mix of modern furnishings and Ong's unique creations. 'We are honoured that the church approached us to restore these buildings,' he said. He said GTHH hoped to also collect stories from the Eurasian community who used to live in these houses. 'We want to honour the memories of those who lived here and tell their stories too,' he said.

The Age

a day ago

• The Age

Fashion out and menswear in as global retailers take prime city shops

However, the company is expanding globally and opened a new 370 sq m shop at Westfield Doncaster in May. Cushman & Wakefield's Cam Taranto and Teska Carson's Adrian Boutsakis did the deal. There is a significant shift under way in the CBD retail core, Taranto said. 'The internationals are back.' 'As major redevelopment projects along Bourke Street Mall near completion, we're aware of several global retailers currently in advanced negotiations with others confirmed, including JD Sports, TK Maxx, Mecca, Nike and Telstra,' he said. Porta timber Cedar Woods has splashed out $50 million on the Porta Timber factory in Fairfield for a 300-unit mixed use project. Porta, one of Melbourne's oldest businesses, moved to the 11,670 sq m site at 224-256 Heidelberg Road in 1921 and the family which owns the company has held the land for more than 100 years. The huge property sits on the corner of Yarra Bend Road, boasting city views and 250 metres frontage to swathes of parkland. It has flexible Commercial 1 zoning which allows for plenty of development options. Loading LAWD agents Lukas Byrns, Paul Callanan and Peter Sagar handled the campaign. Across the road in Darebin Council's Northcote, where the zoning remains industrial despite potential city and park views, another family business has sold its premises. The Rutledge family, who founded groundbreaking audio-visual technology company Rutledge Engineering, has operated out of 195-199 Heidelberg Road since 1998. Last week, they sold their 3048 sq m site for $5.5 million to an industrial developer who has plans to redevelop the site with new warehousing units. Stonebridge Property agents Dylan Kilner, Max Warren and Chao Zhang, with Gross Waddell ICR's Danny Clark and Andrew Waddell negotiated the transaction. Untitled Property's Peter Smyth was transaction manager. There was plenty of interest from owner-occupiers looking to move out of Collingwood and Fitzroy, where rising property values were leading to higher land tax, Kilner said. 'Securing 11 formal offers shows just how deep demand runs for well-positioned industrial land, even where significant upgrades are required,' Warren said. St Kilda Road A former Edwardian laundry in St Kilda that was converted into 10 offices in the 1990s has been put up for sale by its several strata-title owners. The building, known as The Gresham, is on 2872 sq m at 322-332 St Kilda Road, near the corner of Inkerman Street. The old laundry, with its distinctive art nouveau facade, was central to St Kilda's main shopping strip until the modernisation of the nearby Junction in the 1960s. The building is covered by both commercial 1 and mixed use zoning and is expected to fetch more than $14 million. Cushman & Wakefield's Daniel Wolman, Hamish Burgess, Anthony Kirwan and Leon Ma are handling enquiries. Up the road, in what was the leafy boulevard's office strip, Shakespeare Property Group is about to take quite the haircut on its office tower, the Flight Centre's old headquarters at 436 St Kilda Road. Loading Records show it paid $62.15 million for the building in 2020 as Flight Centre scrambled for cash amid the pandemic-related collapse in air travel. It was a good move for the travel agent. Shakespeare, the property arm of Prime Value Asset Management is likely to get just $35 million for the 11-storey tower, which is 70 per cent vacant. CBRE agents Nick Peden, Jamus Campbell, Kiran Pillai and Trent Hobart have the listing. Suburban offices Offshore training group AEMG Education has snapped up an office in Hawthorn, paying $7.5 million for 529 Burwood Road. The 992 sq m double-storey office is on an 1174 sq m site opposite Swinburne University. Savills agent James Latos, who did the deal with Julian Heatherich, Benson Zhou and Tim Grant, said the vendor had owned the property for more than 35 years. 'This is our team's fourth recent sale of a vacant freehold office to an owner-occupier,' Latos said. However, investors continue to creep back into the market. Nearby, on the corner of Riversdale Road, a private investor paid $4.31 million for 270 Auburn Road. Gorman Commercial's Jonathon McCormack, who negotiated the sale with Peter Bremner, said there was lots of interest from owner-occupiers for the partly vacant 738 sq m office. 'It's certainly an owner-occupier market but this one was ultimately bought by a local investor,' McCormack said. Servo sells A Sydney-based investor has splashed out $11.78 million on a new servo in Clayton South in a deal reflecting a relatively buoyant 6.17 per cent yield. The service centre at 548 Clayton Road, on the corner of Bourke Road, was developed by Jasbe Petroleum and completed in 2021. The 4150 sq m centre includes a BP petrol station, a Carl's Jr fast food joint, a car wash and two warehouses. They return $727,047 a year. The deal was negotiated by Cushman & Wakefield's George Davies, Raphael Favas, Oliver Hay and Leon Ma.