Shopping CentresNo fewer than 28 pharmacy companies are in contention for a new outlet to open in the proposed ClareHall Shopping Centre which is due to begin trading towards the end of next summer on the Malahide Road in Dublin 13.
Most of Dublin's leading pharmacy chains, including Boots, Sam McAuley, McCabe Pharmacies, and Gehe (which recently acquired the Unicare group of pharmacies) are all pitching for the outlet, which will have a floor area of up to 325 sq m (3,500 sq ft).
Tesco is developing the €70 million district shopping centre at the end of the M50 near the junction of the Malahide Road and Grange Road. It will be anchored by a 5,452 sq m (58,684 sq ft) hypermarket, the first such venture in the State to be approved since the Government imposed a cap on the size of retail grocery outlets. Since the restrictions were introduced at the end of 2000, store sizes in the grater Dublin area have been restricted to 3,500 sq m (37,673 sq ft); elsewhere the maximum size permitted has been 3,000 sq m (32,291 sq ft).
The decision by An Bord Pleanála to to allow both a supermarket and a department-style store in a single building with more than 3,500 sq m (37,673 sq ft) of floor space opens the way for other developers to seek permission for similar hypermarkets in other areas.
The Tesco outlet will be on the first floor of Clare Hall, directly above an 800-space car-park. Retail specialist Casey Stewart is handling letting in the centre, which will have a gross retail area of almost 18,400 sq m (200,000 sq ft).
The agency is quoting rents of €484 per sq m (€45 per sq ft) for the the unit shops which will range in size from 18 to 447 sq m (193 to 4,811 sq ft).
The Mexx European fashion chain is known to be anxious to open in Clare Hall as part of the expansion of the business, which is expected to grow to about 80 stores over the next three years. A food court on the third floor will be let to three or four operators.
The shopping centre will have a glazed frontage facing on to the Malahide Road. The centre will have a travelators as well as lifts to speed up the movement of customers to and from the car -park.
