A €100 million commercial development in Kilkenny city received planning permission yesterday.
The scheme, focused on the area around the city's railway station, will feature two anchor tenants surrounded by 40 other shops. A hotel, restaurant and bar will take up 7,000 sq metres with a further 8,000 sq metres of office space.
Dozens of apartments and a car-park with over 1,000 spaces will form another major segment of what will be known as MacDonagh Junction.
The site, measuring over five hectares (12.5 acres), will have 10 separate buildings with courtyards and open spaces for open air performances.
It forms part of the integrated area plan (IAP) to rejuvenate an area of the city that has largely missed out on the economic boom.
There will be 1,500 sq metres of community area and another 1,500 sq metres in leisure space.
Mr Gary Talbot, of Chesterbridge Developments Ltd, who received planning permission, said that at peak construction 500 people would be employed and that in the long term 500 sustainable jobs would be created.
An agreement is already in place to ensure that a percentage go to people from the area.
A monitoring committee made up of officials, politicians and community leaders will ensure that commitments given on community facilities and employment for local people are kept.
Community leaders such as Mr Liam Carroll, representing the Ossory Park residents, say the scheme is all about rejuvenation and regeneration.
He said that Chesterbridge will not receive consolidation certificates on work carried out unless guidelines incorporated into the scheme are adhered to for the benefit of the local people.
"After all, this whole urban renewal scheme was brought into existence to improve the lot of the communities who have suffered in the past from social exclusion," he said.
The planning process for MacDonagh Junction has been one of the most arduous and complex ever undertaken by the local authorities in Kilkenny.
The company is expected to start work in early September and must have work completed by the end of July 2006 to avail of the tax breaks included in the urban renewal scheme.
Community leaders and business people in the area have enthusiastically embraced the project, saying it will bring employment, prosperity and confidence to an area of the city that has lagged behind other areas.
Two former major urban renewal schemes in the city benefited the far side of the city, on the other side of the River Nore.
The railway station development will be an opportunity to redress the imbalance that has been created.