Work is to begin next month on the first phase of a £100 million business and retail park in Mullingar, Co Westmeath. Leading Dublin developer Mr Sean McKeon heads up the company promoting the development which will also have a large residential content. Known as Lakepoint Retail & Business Park, it is a mixed commercial and residential development that will provide 450,000 sq. ft of accommodation suitable for information technology, industry, business and retail use.
With extensive frontage to the Mullingar bypass it will also include approximately 640 mixed residential units. Work on the development will commence early next month.
Extending to 125 acres, the site will include 270,000 sq. ft of manufacturing and logistics accommodation, as well as a 100,000 sq. ft technology office campus. There will be 80,000 sq. ft of retail warehousing.
The scheme is being developed by Daracom Ltd, whose managing director, Mr McKeon, said Lakepoint is ideally placed to take advantage of the growing needs of Mullingar, a town undergoing considerable expansion. "The location and ever-improving transport network is ideal for manufacturing and distribution," he said.
The joint agents, Gunne Commercial and Hamilton Osborne King, say there is strong interest in the scheme from Irish and international occupiers seeking to locate their businesses in Mullingar.
The 643 residential units will include apartments, townhouses, three, four and five-bedroom semi-detached and detached houses. The developers say the entire scheme will be in a high quality landscaped setting "to provide a top quality living and working environment".
The agents say Mullingar is only one hour from Dublin and is the second-largest town in the midlands with a population of more than 100,000 within a 45-minute drive. They say the town is attracting an increasing number of people who work in Dublin, but who are also seeking affordable housing combined with good living standards. With the increasing emphasis on decentralisation by both the Government and agencies such as IDA Ireland, Mullingar offers an ideal location for companies seeking a good working environment combined with a skilled labour force, according to the agents.
