After years of dereliction, Upper English Street in Armagh has become ‘unrecognisable’ from its former self.
Thanks to investment from the Armagh City Townscape Heritage project, five properties in the area owned by Drumarg Properties have been given much-needed refurbishment and restoration, which preserve the historical character of the street, while making the premises fit for the 21st Century.
The buildings – No 14, No 16, No 18, No 20 and Nos 28-30 – have undergone substantial refurbishment over the last two years, with the remaining works to Nos 28-30 having been completed in early November.
This leaves 20 residential units and five commercial units ready – all of which have been occupied.
The works were made possible as part of £6.3 million in funding from the Armagh City Townscape Heritage Scheme, a National Lottery Heritage Funded Regeneration Programme.
The scheme consists of monies from ABC Council, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the remainder from private property owners.
The property at 28-30 Upper English Street has been refurbished and restored to include an extension to the rear at second and third floor levels and a new shop front to provide one ground floor retail unit, three two-bed apartments and two one-bed apartments.
At the start of November, this space was occupied by Dickson Insurance.
Works began at the property in May 2023, with 28-30 having previously been the site of Dunnes Stores, which closed in the 1990s and has lain vacant ever since.
Prior to Dunnes, in the 1960’s, the business was a grocery store and was known as ‘The Milestone and ‘Quinn’s the Milestone Bar’ was upstairs and also part of the building.
The properties at 14, 16, 18 and 20 Upper English Street date back to the early 19th Century and have witnessed various uses and occupancies over the years, such as a bakery, a tobacconist, a bookshop, a dressmaker and a grocer.
The project invested £2.9 million to bring these buildings back to sustainable use, and they have been developed to feature a range of commercial and residential space.
The newly revitalised retail spaces are now home to Innovating Interiors, Hairport Turkish Barbers and Dunleavy Opticians.
One of the other units is also currently being kitted out as a sandwich bar.
Speaking to Armagh I, a spokesperson for Drumarg Properties says that the goal of the renovation was to bring the properties into the modern day, while preserving the historical character of Upper English Street.
The former Dunnes Store on Upper English Street in Armagh has been completely transformed
He said: “The buildings were very sensitively redeveloped due to working within the confines of the conservation area in dealing with the historical elements of the buildings. We’ve now brought back into use properties that were derelict in excess of 20 years.
“We’re now housing families in the centre of Armagh, living in ultra-modern apartments in high demand.
“It [Upper English Street] was seriously under-invested in over many years and the properties had got into a serious state of disrepair. There were substantial works carried out. There were properties reroofed; rewired; replumbed; new windows installed; and effectively new buildings apart from the exterior element.”
He added that there has already been very high demand for tenants in the new residential and commercial spaces.
“We’re experiencing a very high demand for the residential units and we’re currently in the process of fitting out appliances and floor coverings in 28-30. We already have a waiting list for tenants for those properties.
“By putting in a substantial investment into those properties, we have no issues renting them and they’re highly sought after.”
The spokesperson also thanked the public bodies and organisations involved in helping to fund the refurbishment works.
He said: “We couldn’t have done this without the council, or the Townscape Heritage project and the National Lottery. Without all the stakeholders and partners involved, they wouldn’t have been redeveloped to the standard they have been done to.”
He also thanked DA Architects, McCreanor & Co Architects, Ian Donnelly Associates and Philip Mallon for helping make the projects a reality.
“There’s many people involved in the process from start to finish and it’s important that everybody gets recognised. There was a very positive working relationship in redeveloping these properties that is testament to the success of the outcome.”
So what’s next for Armagh? Will we start to see restoration elsewhere in Armagh City? While Drumarg Properties have remained tight-lipped about their future plans, rest assured we can expect to see more in the future.
The spokesperson continued: “We’ll be moving on to other projects in the town and we would hope to regenerate a substantial number of other buildings in the town centre.
“We take great pride in redeveloping some of the historical buildings in the town and bringing them back up to a modern day standard and bringing much-needed residential and commercial properties to the town centre.
“We think Upper English Street is a very welcome street from what it was two years ago. Before, these properties were derelict and in serious disrepair. Look at them now. Last year some of them were boarded up and now they’re all completed.”
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