Two investment companies looking to extend Grafton Street-style shopping on to adjoining Nassau Street are to seek planning approval next month for about 7,432sq m (80,000sq ft) of retail space.
The companies hope it will appeal to international traders looking for large stores in Dublin city centre.
The redevelopment of the low-density site at the axis of Nassau Street and Dawson Street will also include about 9,290sq m (100,000 sq ft) of offices on the upper floors.
The plan to replace nine relatively small outlets with a number of large-format stores coincides with moves by some landlords on Grafton Street and Henry Street to opt for similar floor plates by amalgamating adjoining premises.
The Nassau Street plan envisages retail facilities on three levels – basement, ground and mezzanine – and up to four floors of offices overhead with the main entrance to the offices off Dawson Street. About 60 basement parking spaces will be dropped to a new lower level.
The Dublin-based BCP International Property Fund joined forces last September with Meyer Bergman, the pan-European retail and mixed-use specialists, to acquire the Dublin properties for about €90 million.
BCP and its sister business, BCP Private Equity, a retail specialist on London’s Oxford Street and Bond Street, is committed to taking up to 33 per cent of the equity in the investment which, when completed, is expected to have a valuation well over €200 million.
It is well known that a string of international retailers have been looking for large stores in the streets around Grafton Street.
Green Reit is not expected to have any difficulty in finding a prominent tenant for a substantial store it’s developing as part of an office block on the corner of Dawson and Molesworth streets.
High-profile trader Victoria’s Secrets has managed to secure one of the best trading pitches in the city at the BT2 store on Grafton Street.
The Nassau Street site is still one of the best available in the city in terms of its potential for large prime retail units as well as an office. Both facilities will be enhanced by the extension of the Luas down Dawson Street into Nassau Street.
Since acquiring the tranche of properties, BCP and Meyer Bergman have bought five further Nassau Street shops alongside the Morrison Chambers on the opposite side of Dawson Street.
The latest purchase, for €13.5 million, brings to 14 the number of shops owned by the consortium on Nassau Street. The last five shops will benefit from the expected growth in shoppers once the first phase of the scheme is complete.
