Opening time
Published: 05 November, 2007
This autumn has seen numerous new shopping centre openings around Ireland and that's in addition to the massive Athlone Towncentre. Two other high profile openings have been MacDonagh Junction in Kilkenny and the Bridgewater centre in Arklow, Co Wicklow.
The ambitious MacDonagh Junction was set to open on November 8 and has been fully let, barring a handful of units. In early October, DNG Commercial was still negotiating with some prominent fashion labels. The €250 million scheme has brought many Irish and international retailers to Kilkenny, previously considered much under-shopped.
Donie Butler, the centre's manager, says: "MacDonagh Junction will become an integral part of life in the city. Everyone can look forward to a new experience when they visit this new city quarter, which has a great mix of amenity, open space and shopping facilities." Although the retail elements have opened for business, other aspects of the development remain to be completed, such as the magnificently restored Workhouse Square. One innovative aspect of the scheme has been the creation of a time capsule, due to be opened in 100 years' time.
The scheme will face competition from the planned €300m Citymart development, covering 5.34 ha, but this has only just been launched by Bannon Commercial, so at best is three or four years down the track.
The €250m riverside Bridgewater centre opened in Arklow in October, with Joanna Lumley doing the honours.
This development, with over 40 retailers, was let jointly by Bannon Commercial and Colliers Jackson-Stops and was fully let when it opened. Anchored by Dunnes Stores and TK Maxx, it also has four sub-anchor stores and 32 shops, as well as 11 restaurants and cafés, a nine-screen cineplex, 23 luxury apartments, over 3, 000 sq m of office space and a multi-storey car park with over 1,000 spaces.
Says Declan Stone, managing director of Colliers Jackson-Stops: "At the outset, we believed that the retailers and their advisers initially underestimated the potential in this area. Arklow town has experienced 18 per cent population growth since 1996 and is set to become one of the top 20 provincial towns in terms of population." Arklow is now well placed to become a major retail centre on the east coast, almost equidistant from Dublin and Wexford.
Rent levels achieved for standard units ranging from 150 to 400-sq m ground floor space (many have mezzanines) work out at between €600 and €800 per sq m. Dunnes Stores paid in the region of €15m for 6,500 sq m of space in total. Phase II is now in incubation, spurred on by considerable interest from some formidable retailers, including a major store group that's looking for 5,000 sq m.
Other recent openings include Charleville Town Centre in north-west Co Cork, which opened in October, with Dunnes Stores in the 5,000-sq m anchor unit. The centre has 17 other retail units and 450 car parking spaces. The units are on 25-year leases, with five-yearly rent reviews.
Ballaghderreen, Co Roscommon, saw its new shopping centre open at the end of August. At the heart of the development is the 1,670-sq m unit taken by Duffy's Super Valu, alongside eight other retail units. In an opening ceremony that was relatively unusual in modern Ireland, Duffy's store was blessed by the Bishop of Achonry, Dr Thomas Flynn.
Beacon Quarter South in south Co Dublin had a relatively low key opening with a handful of shops. Dunnes Stores has taken a 5,700- sq m anchor unit and two large furniture stores, one for Diamond Living, the other for Roche Dubois. When the centre is completed and fully let, it will have 45 retail units. Letting agent CBRE is quoting €592 to €646 per sq m on the upper plaza level and €377 per sq m on the lower courtyard level. With the first phase well under way, the second phase is due to open next Easter. CBRE says that two units in this second phase have been let to high-end furniture retailers that cannot yet be named.
Carrick-on-Shannon's Rosebank shopping centre has moved towards completion with the recent opening of the 44th outlet of Boots in Ireland.
Drogheda's Laurence Town Centre, the rival to the riverside Scotch Hall development, was officially opened in October. Retail units in the Laurence have been opening in phases over the past year; Marks & Spencer was one of the first to open and has since reported excellent trading.
Dublin's new Charlestown Centre in Finglas, on the city's north side and close to a planned Ikea store, was developed by Bovale Developments and opened at the end of October. Again, it is anchored by Dunnes Stores, which spent about €80m buying and fitting out its unit. Tenants include Boots and the Bagel Factory, in units from 50 to 215 sq m.
Dublin's Citywest shopping centre opened in September, with the 6,700-sq m anchor store occupied by Dunnes Stores. It's a large format Dunnes, with 60 per cent drapery and 40 per cent groceries. Dunnes bought the 6,700-sq m unit for an undisclosed sum and according to Peter Levins of Bannon Commercial, joint agents for the scheme together with Savills Hamilton Osborne King, a number of other retailers were in competition for the space.
Altogether, the Citywest scheme has over 30 other retail units. Rents are in the region of €592 per sq m. One of the future attractions of the scheme will be an extension to the Luas light rail system, which is due to pass close to the centre, with a station due to be built at the centre entrance.
Galway has seen two major openings by Dunnes Stores. In September, it partially opened its anchor unit in the Briarhill shopping centre, developed for €100 million by local developer Liam Mulryan. When completed Briarhill will have 18 further retail units.
Dunnes Stores and B & Q have opened anchor units at the new Gateway shopping centre in Galway West retail park, Knocknacarra. These two new outlets bring the number of Dunnes' outlets in Galway city to six.
Gorey shopping centre in north Co Wexford and just 15 km from Arklow, also opened in October. A mix of comparison and convenience shopping, it was developed by Palazzo Properties and opened 100 per cent let. It is anchored by Dunnes Stores, in a 7,896-sq m unit, the largest Dunnes in south-east Ireland. The scheme also has 24 mall units. The developer claims that the cutting edge design of the centre breaks the mould of traditional shopping centres.
The population of its catchment area has grown by an astonishing 90 per cent in the past 10 years, with no increase in retail facilities until now, so unsurprisingly there was big demand for units, according to sole agents Bannon Commercial.
Sligo's Johnson Court shopping mall, a €70m development by Ray and Eileen Monaghan right in the centre of the town, opened at the end of October, rather than the end of September as originally planned.
Leading retailers such as H Samuel, Pamela Scott, Sony and Virgin Megastore have signed up for Johnson Court. Esprit, the international chain which sells bodywear, accessories and shoes for men, women and young people, has opened its first Irish shop in the centre, as has Tom Tailor, the German casual wear chain. In total, the new centre, which has contributed significantly to the regeneration of Sligo town centre, has 28 two-storey shops, a juice bar, a coffee shop and a restaurant.
Said Ed Douglas of Douglas Newman Good Commercial, the letting agent: "The quality of the development, its state-of-the-art design and its location in the heart of Sligo impressed international brands and enabled us to deliver retailers new to Ireland."
So despite any financial and economic gloom, this autumn has been an exceptionally busy period for new shopping centre openings, with Dunnes Stores playing a pivotal role in many of them.
