Property developer Mr Owen O'Callaghan yesterday predicted that his €230 million shopping centre at Mahon Point in Cork would prove a major attraction for shoppers throughout Munster. Barry Roche, Southern Correspondent, reports.
Mr O'Callaghan said he was confident that the combination of a good road infrastructure, plentiful parking and the mix of tenants would help to woo many customers back from shopping in Dublin.
"We are talking about attracting customers back into Cork from different parts of Munster, including all of Cork county, Limerick, Kerry, Waterford, south Tipperary."
He added that people who were going to shop in Dublin "will end up back here".
The centre was officially opened yesterday morning. An estimated 40,000 people visited it on its first day. The first customer was Mr Michael Noonan, a 24-year-old student from Turners Cross.
Mr O'Callaghan conceded that the 63-unit shopping centre at Mahon Point was likely to affect retailers in Cork city centre.
However, he insisted that this would be short-term as he hoped another of his developments at Academy Street would be completed within 18 months.
"Inevitably, this centre is going to affect the city centre a little bit, and it's going to affect other suburban centres, but not to that great an extent.
"It will attract people from different parts of Munster back to Cork, and, hopefully, they will move from here to the city centre," he said. "Shopping centres are becoming more and more modern every day, and, because of the Irish economy, retailers from different parts of Europe and the UK are inclined now to come to this country and, in this particular case, come to Cork."
Mr O'Callaghan played down suggestions that the development of the shopping complex with 1,600 parking spaces might lead to congestion in the area, particularly given the extra volumes of traffic it is likely to generate for the nearby Jack Lynch Lee Tunnel.
"I am happy with the infrastructure. The Southern Ring Road is excellent, and while there are always concerns, I think we're going to be okay.
"We don't see any real problems [in terms of congestion].
"The tunnel is something that people are always going to be concerned about, but the difficulty with the tunnel is the roundabout on the northern side, and if there is some difficulty, I am sure that if it is traffic-lighted we should be okay."
Mr O'Callaghan said it was the centre's location which made it attractive to tenants, and it was the particular mix of tenants which set it apart from other shopping centres and made it an attractive place to shop.
The main anchor tenant, Debenhams, has a 75,000 sq ft shop spread over two floors.
The second anchor tenant, Tesco, has a 35,000 sq ft shop which will be open for business 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The 250,000 sq ft shopping centre comprises more than 50 retail units, three restaurants, six additional food outlets, as well as an 11-screen Omniplex cinema which opens next month.
The centre will provide employment for 1,800 people.
Both Debenhams and Tesco are employing 200 staff each.
All retails units have been let, and just two banking units are still under offer.
Among the many other high street brands who have taken units at the Mahon Point shopping centre are Zara, Next, Pamela Scott, Principals, Gasoline, Oasis, Monsoon, Lacoste, French Connection, Easons, Golden Discs, Adams, Ladybird, Champion Sports, First Choice, La Sensa and Sasha.
Restaurants and food outlets in the shopping centre include American brand Bennigans, for whom Mahon Point is its first restaurant in Ireland, as well as established names such as O'Brien's, McDonald's, Eddie Rockets, Bagel Bar, Pizza Slice and KFC.
The centre was developed by O'Callaghan Properties in partnership with one of Germany's largest investment fund firms, DEKA Immobilien Investment GMbH, which belongs to the DekaBank Group, which is part of the Sparkassse Finance Group.
Mr O'Callaghan said it was the first time DEKA Immobilien Investment GMbH had invested in an Irish project. The German firm was reported to be very pleased with the way Mahon Point had been developed and was looking forward to its success.