High profile tenants sign up at Liffey Valley: Liffey Valley Shopping Centre off the M50 in west Dublin is continuing to attract high profile tenants.
Latest arrival is Burger King which will be paying a base rent of around €300,000, as well as 10 per cent of the turnover, for a unit of 222sq m (2,390sq ft). The centre has a formidable line up of outlets in the food court which attracts about 40 per cent of the visitors to the centre, according to Bernadine Hogan of Hamilton Osborne King.
Ladies fashion giant H & M also opened a 2,601sq m (28,000sq ft) store on three levels at the centre last week for which it will be paying a rent of over €1 million.
New Look will also be paying close to €1 million for 1,858sq m (20,000sq ft) in a new extension to the complex. Also moving in last week was Diesel Ireland which is renting a first floor shop of 139sq m (1,496sq ft) at €155,000 per annum.
Home and garden outlet for Ashbourne Retail Park
The new Dairygold subsidiary, 4Home Superstores, is opening a new home and garden outlet at the planned Ashbourne Retail Park in Co Meath. Its range of products will include DIY, paints, floors, doors, electrical appliances, homewares and bathrooms. The company currently operates outlets in Cork, Limerick and Kerry and plans to open other branches in Portlaoise, Macroom and Monaghan next year.
CBRE Gunne and HWBC are joint agents for the 14,000sq m (150,695sq ft) park on the N1, just north of Ashbourne.
Over €725,000 for retail investment in Bray
Davin Auctioneers is seeking offers over €725,000 for a retail investment at 3 Market Court in Bray, Co Wicklow. The shop is let on a long lease to a convenience retailer at a rent of €37,000 per annum. Market Court is ideally located at the junction of Vevay Road and Killarney Road on the southern end of the Main Street.
Final four industrial units for rent in Dublin 10
The last four of 11 business units in an established industrial estate at Cherry Orchard in Dublin 10 are available to buy or rent through Jones Lang LaSalle. The new warehousing plus office units at Cherry Orchard Industrial Estate range in size from 330-390sq m (3,552-4,200sq ft) and in price from €500,000 to €650,000. They can also be leased for an annual rent of €39,000 to €46,000.
Glasnevin industrial unit makes record €1,442 per sq m
The former ECI Lighting facility in Dublin Industrial Estate at Glasnevin in Dublin has been sold by CBRE Gunne for €1.15 million. The price is thought to be a record for the estate and works out at €1,442 per sq m (€134 per sq ft).
Jarlath Lynn of the agency says there is a particularly strong demand within the estate for freehold units which was due in part to the fact that existing occupiers were reluctant to move.
Foundation stone laid for Athlone Town Centre scheme
The Taoiseach has laid the foundation stone for the "Grafton Street of the midlands", the huge Athlone Town Centre development project. The town centre, on an eight-acre site, is to provide 92,903sq m (1 million sq ft) of retail space and a large 11-storey hotel development.
Mr Ahern was greeted by John O'Sullivan of developer Gallico Developments who said the Taoiseach had started a scheme "that will culminate in the largest shopping development outside of Dublin". Mr O'Sullivan highlighted economic policies which the Taoiseach "put in place during your term both as Taoiseach and Minister for Finance" - like urban renewal tax incentives, the National Spatial Strategy and a low corporation tax environment - that had contributed to schemes, like Athlone Town Centre, getting underway.
These policies, said Mr O'Sullivan, had been "macro catalysts" which had enabled Athlone Town Council to convert the eight-acre derelict site into a new town centre.
"What we are about here is sustainable development and implementation of spatial strategy in the midlands," Mr O'Sullivan said. "The fact that there will be 1,000 new sustainable jobs created on completion is in itself a statistic of note."
The new centre would make Athlone the regional shopping destination for the midlands, he stated. "When complete, this development will offer the people of the midlands the exact same choice that they get when they go to these other regional centres, in other words a Grafton Street for the midlands," he said.
The developers had "reached agreement with a major international anchor", Mr O'Sullivan stated. Agent Bannon Commercial is also in "advanced discussions" with companies, including Zara, H&M, Next, Oasis, Coast, Topshop, TK Maxx and Waterstones.
The complex will include a "signature building" at its centre, an 11-storey building which will "create the desired mixed-use element of a town centre scheme such as this", he added.
It was intended that the Hodson Bay Hotel Group would run the hotel, he said, adding to a group which runs the Galway Bay Hotel in Salthill and the Hodson bay in Athlone.
