One of the Dublin's best known bric-a-brac markets, Mother Redcaps, at Christchurch, Dublin 8, seems set to be redeveloped for other commercial uses when it is sold by tender on June 21st.
Lambert Smith Hampton expects to secure over £9 million (€11.43m) for the complex which includes a bar, function room, development site and an adjoining office investment, producing a rental income of £60,000 (€76,180) per annum.
The Mother Redcaps market, which closed recently, had been operating since the late 1980s in the former Winstanley shoe factory.
The entire site covers an area of 0.54 of an acre and includes the Mother Redcaps licensed premises, which dates back to 1857 and has traded well since it reopened in 1988.
The premises has a traditional ground floor lounge bar with a large function room and bar at first-floor level. The three-storey 3,000 sq ft office block, formerly used as offices by Winstanleys, is occupied by chartered accountants HLB Nathans.
The old city wall forms part of the rear boundary of the site and is naturally listed for preservation. The entire site is located in one of the oldest parts of the city and has frontage on to both Back Lane - linking Patrick Street with High Street - and Lamb Alley.
According to Sean O'Neill of Lambert Smith Hampton, Mother Redcaps is one of the largest and most interesting redevelopment opportunities to have come on the market in the city centre for some time. The area has undergone considerable rejuvenation in recent years and is set for even more comprehensive changes in the future with the opening of a digital media village within the Liberties, Coombe and Thomas Street areas.
One of the main selling points is likely to be the Z5 zoning under the Dublin City Development Plan which allows a hotel and public house along with office and residential use of the site. More surprising is the decision to sell the complex in either one lot or three separate units, covering the bar, office investment and former market.
