Within a few months the retail element at Sandyford's Beacon South Quarter will become another busy Dublin shopping centre, writes Edel Morgan
Billed as a "modern retail paradise" by the developers, Beacon South Quarter in Sandyford has a quiet, rarified atmosphere.
As you stroll around the open air plaza on the upper floor, there is a complete absence of hustle and bustle with the most intrusive sound being the gush of the water feature outside the children's interactive museum, as it sprays everything within a 6ft radius.
But it is early days yet at Beacon South Quarter and, with only a fraction of the retail offering open, the calm is probably misleading. Within a few months - when more retailers open here - it will probably become yet another frantically busy Dublin shopping centre.
Since it opened in the late summer, less than a handful of shops have being providing the main draw for shoppers. The anchor is a 5,700sq m (61,332sq ft) Dunnes Stores outlet and there are two furniture shops, the 1,300sq m (14,000sq ft) Diamond Living and 650sq m (7,000sq ft) Roche Bobois, which all have two levels.
Already the 1,486sq m (16,000sq ft) Imaginosity, Dublin's first children's interactive museum with a capacity for about 200, is reported to be packing them in, particularly at the weekends, with staff now requesting that people book in advance.
A quirky wood and glass fronted building standing on stilts over a pool, Imaginosity! caters for babies and kids up to 12 years, and has a mini-supermarket, post office, doctor's surgery, diner, building site, theatre and TV studio, as well as a three-storey climbing structure, leading up to Rapunzel's castle.
Also open for business is South Bar and Grill, owned by Ronan Ryan and Temple Garner of Town Bar and Grill on Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Built by Landmark developments, a consortium led by former restaurant entrepreneur Paddy Shovlin and designed by Traynor O'Toole, Beacon South Quarter is part of the redevelopment of the 12.5-acre former Microsoft campus, which Landmark acquired from Green Property for €40 million. The brand includes the Beacon Hospital, Beacon Court, Beacon Consultants clinic and the Beacon Hotel.
When it's finished the development will have over 25,000sq m (269,100sq ft) of retail over two levels, 1,100 apartments, 2,100 car-parking spaces and a cultural centre.
The attraction for retailers is that there are 40,000 households within a 10-minute drive of Beacon South Quarter, which is projected to grow by a further 5,000 in the next two years given the number of new apartments earmarked for the area. The total yearly expenditure of each household in the area is €46,000; 33 per cent above the national average. Within 20 minutes that number of households rises to 550,000 with an average yearly spend of €44,000.
There are 45 retail units in total with the selling agent CB Richard Ellis quoting rents of €592-€646 per sq m (€55-€60 per sq ft) on the upper plaza level and €377 per sq m (€35 per sq ft) on the lower courtyard level.
Over the next month a number of shops will open on the courtyard level, including Kube interiors, golf shop Green 18, a flagship 603sq m (6,500sq ft) O'Brien's Wines and Your Local Pharmacy (which is owned by Crowley's Pharmacies) and Nationwide Tiles and Bathrooms.
Furniture store Bo Concept is expected to be trading by November. On the plaza level, a Carphone Warehouse IQ audiovisual store is due to open in the coming weeks.
There are five units still available on the plaza and, according to Alan McArdle of CB Richard Ellis, given their proximity to the children's museum preferred uses include books, toys and children's fashions.
In the foodcourt, which is set to open in the new year on the upper level, the line up will include Starbucks, O'Briens, Munchies and Godfather's Pizza, and there is space for two restaurants at 232sq m (2,500sq ft) each.
The second phase, which is set to open at Easter next year, will include the Bank of Ireland, Halifax, Eddie Rockets and Paddy Power.
CBRE says that two units in the second phase have been reserved to high-end, furniture retailers, who they can't name yet.
