A round-up of today's other stories in brief
West building off the market
ATTEMPTS to find a replacement tenant for jewellers West of Grafton Street, Dublin 2, have been suspended following a decision by the owners to withdraw the property from the letting market.
Agent Jones Lang LaSalle had been in discussions with a number of interested traders when owner Joe Moran of Manor Park Homes pulled the property off the market. The building, which has been occupied by West since 1965, has a retail area of around 37sq m (400sq ft). The agents had been quoting a rent of €300,000.
Hair salon for Times building
THE hair salon multiple House of Colour is to open a new outlet at The Times Building on D’Olier Street, Dublin 2. It has five other salons in the city. The company will be paying a headline rent of €50,000 for the three-storey unit which has a floor area of 173sq m (1,862sq ft). The package is understood to include a six-month rent-free period.
Joint agents HT Meagher O’Reilly and CB Richard Ellis are in discussions to lease the remaining six retail units in the former offices and printing works of The Irish Times which were redeveloped by P Elliott Co. The shops range in size from 98-426sq m (1,0545-4,585sq ft) and include an impressive glazed unit with mezzanine and basement earmarked for a cafe bar/restaurant along Fleet Street
The Irish Aviation Authority occupy 3,530 sq m (38,000 sq ft) of offices on the upper floor.
Mothercare opens new store
THE Mothercare Ireland Group is to open a substantial new store at the Crescent shopping centre at Dooradoyle in Limerick. It already has another outlet at Cruises Street in the city centre. Mothercare is likely to be paying in excess of €250,000 per annum for the 659sq m (7,100sq ft) unit which was previous occupied by long-term tenant JR Fashions. The new store will carry an extended range of Mothercare products and services as well as a large Early Learning Centre play area that includes developmental toys, children’s hairdressing salon, a photography studio and a mother and baby room.
Stephen Murray of letting agent Jones Lang LaSalle said the fact that Mothercare had committed to a large new store opening in the successful regional centre was a strong endorsement in the current retail market. “We are finding that a number of major brands are taking the opportunity to selectively expand into the best schemes in the country to complete their store network. Mothercare Ireland is an Irish owned franchise of Mothercare International and has 23 stores in the country, six of them in Dublin
€2m for Georgian house
MCNALLY Partners are seeking in the region of €2 million for a Georgian house at 25 Upper Fitzwilliam Street,
Dublin 2, which provides 397sq m (4,279sq ft) of offices. It is in good condition and comes with Cat 5 cabling, boardroom and kitchen and bathroom facilities. There are seven car parking spaces to the rear with a gated access off Lad Lane.
Merrion planning overturned
DUBLIN City Council's decision to grant planning permission for a retail unit at 147a Merrion Road, Dublin 4, to be converted into a funeral home, has been overturned by An Bord Pleanála.
The board ruled that because of the restricted space on and around the site and the conditions affecting access, the proposed development would endanger public safety by reason of traffic hazard and obstruction of road users.
The apppellants were Maire Boland, R McDonald, Dr Sarah Carthy and Dr Enda Ryan.
Tesco and Penneys go large
Both Tesco and Penneys are to relocate to larger shops in the Laois shopping centre in Portlaoise which is currently being redeveloped by owners Harcourt Developments.
Tesco is to move from a 3,716sq m (40,000sq ft) supermarket to one with a floor area of 8,082sq m (86,993sq ft) while Penneys will trade from a 4,459sq m (48,000sq ft) unit, almost double the space it currently rents. Harcourt is also developing 15 new shops, 10 of them with floor areas between 185 and 929sq m (1,991 and 10,000sq ft) and others ranging from 74 to 139 sq m (797 to 1,496sq ft).
Louise Donnelly of DTZ Sherry Fitzgerald is quoting rents of €645 per sq m (€60 per sq ft) for the smaller units.
Harcourt has yet to unveil its plans for the Parkway shopping centre on the outskirts of Limerick which it bought at the peak of the market for €65 million.
