Dublin city manager John Fitzgerald has expressed concern about the quality of retailer moving to the south city as some international fashion chains avoid Grafton Street in favour of Henry Street and shopping centres in the suburbs.
With bookmakers, mobile phone and gift shops and a convenience store under the Spar brand now on Grafton Street, some of the more established retailers on the street complain privately that the quality of the offering in the city's premier shopping zone has gone downmarket in recent times.
Grafton Street, which has the fifth most expensive rents in the world, has also missed out on the arrival into the Irish market of leading international fashion chains such as H&M and Zara.
As some of the biggest developments go to new ventures such as the Dundrum Town Centre in south Dublin, Mr Fitzgerald said the council was trying to encourage property owners to see the potential in the city centre for developments of that kind.
"We are concerned about the quality of retail development on the southside at the moment," he said.
Asked whether he had been contacted about the trend by other retailers on Grafton Street, Mr Fitzgerald said there was "a lot of concern".
He held out the possibility of the city council creating a special planning zone on the street but said it was reluctant to interfere in the market.
Instead, the council is encouraging property owners to consolidate their holdings on Grafton Street and its hinterland to provide international fashion chains with the the space they require.
Mr Fitzgerald said the capacity for new retail space in the city centre was the equivalent of 2½ times the Dundrum centre, a high-end development which has attracted some international chains that have so far failed to locate stores on Grafton Street.
He said the council was very aware that there was pent-up demand among international retailers to obtain space on Grafton Street and Henry Street.
"To meet this demand, developers, particularly in the southside, need to consolidate larger sites. In the north city, there is a need to develop a broader range of new cafes and restaurants and new pedestrian linkages," he added.
With Dublin now the third most popular European weekend break destination - behind London and Paris - the concern about the quality of the offering on Grafton Street comes amid a spending boom and a 37 per cent increase since 1991 in the number of people living in the city centre.
A "retail cores" framework plan introduced yesterday by Mr Fitzgerald is designed to link the Grafton Street and Henry Street zones "to ensure they retain their status as the primary retail location in the State".
Other framework plans are designed to facilitate the redevelopment of the areas around Heuston Station, the Smithfield markets area and the Poolbeg area near Ringsend.
As part of the retail plan, city council officials want developers to provide space in the areas straddling Grafton Street between Dawson Street and South Great George's Street.
"At the moment Grafton Street is very linear. It's a straight line and nobody is turning right or left," said Alan Taylor, economic development officer with the city council.
