B&Q's proposed 6,000 sq m (64,584 sq ft) outlet which will anchor the City East Retail Park on the outskirts of Limerick will be good news for customers. Jack Fagan reports.
The DIY market in Limerick is in line for a major shake-up with the decision by UK giant B&Q to open a large outlet on the outskirts of the city.
The company is to trade out of the City East Retail Park planned for the main N24 Tipperary/Waterford road into Limerick city.
B&Q will anchor the 16-acre park which is being developed by Parkes Properties and is expected to have an end value of about €54 million.
The complex will include a motor mall, with commitments already made by a BMW dealership and Pat Keogh Motors. There will also be 10 retail warehouse units with a total floor area of 18,500 sq m (200,000 sq ft). Rents for these outlets are likely to be around €269 to €322 per sq m (€25 to €30 per sq ft) depending on size and location within the park.
The B&Q store will extend to 6,000 sq m (64,584 sq ft) and will have an adjoining garden centre. The rent to be paid has not been disclosed but it is understood to be in the region of €215 per sq m (€20 per sq ft). The company has been keen to get into the buoyant DIY market in Limerick for a considerable time.
With most other retail parks in the country pitching for B&Q because of its reputation as a crowd-puller, the multiple is being offered all kinds of incentives, including rent-free periods and lower rents for an initial period.
Some developers will be relying on the other retail units to make their money in the early years once they have B&Q in situ.
The arrival of B&Q in Limerick is also expected to force competitors to trim back their selling prices in order to stay in business.
Despite protests to the contrary, most Irish multiples are charging top prices for their goods. B&Q has the capacity to force realignment of prices.
B&Q has been running two highly successful stores in Dublin, at Liffey Valley and Belgard Road, and is currently fitting out another store at Airways Retail Park near Dublin airport.
A fourth outlet will open at Mahon in Cork next March and there are also plans to service Naas, Galway, Waterford, Athlone and possibly Drogheda or Dundalk.
The company is also expected to open another outlet in south Dublin, either on the former Allegro site in Sandyford or at the better located Park retail complex which is under construction on a site off the M50 at Carrickmines.
Parkes Properties, which is developing City East, was also involved with Dunloe Ewart in the building and marketing of the €60 million Parkway Retail Park off the Dublin road in Limerick which has attracted a top class line-up of tenants.
Ralph Parkes says that City East Retail Park will have a quality feel similar to Parkway but with the challenge to offer a different retail mix.
"We want visitors to City East to have a European shopping experience, lots of parking, interesting modern architecture with a mix of shopping and services not currently on offer in the marketplace."
Hamilton Osborne King and O'Connor Murphy Gubbins are joint letting agents for the scheme while Healy & Partners will be project architects and Brian Meehan & Associates will be strategic planners.
Peter O'Meara of Hamilton Osborne King said the location of the new park in the densely populated Castletroy suburb and just off the new Dublin-Cork ring road guarantees its success.
Negotiations had already begun to let a number of the retail units which would vary in size from 700 to 4,000 sq m (7,534 to over 43,000 sq ft). Limerick has become one of the most successful shopping areas outside Dublin with a hinterland population of over 214,000 and a significantly higher regional shopping catchment area.
