Limerick City centre needs a new major retail development to increase its attractiveness as major developments proceed on the Dublin, Cork and Ennis roads, according to PJ Power, of Power &Associates chartered surveyors.
"With the amount of suburban retail developments being built, Limerick will become more attractive for shopping but the city centre could do with further retail development.
"If you take Roches Stores and Brown Thomas out of it, you have no major department store. It would be great to see a Marks &Spencer or a Debenhams within the city centre area," he said.
City centre zone A rents have doubled in the past 18 months. Lifestyle, the sportswear shop, recently moved into William Street, paying £130 (165) a sq ft for a 1,300 sq ft premises. Similar prices are being paid around the corner on the pedestrianised Cruises Street with large premiums being paid to existing tenants. "Now all of a sudden, you are getting £250,000 (317,434) which is comparable to Dublin. The Limerick retail market is quite unique in the way the values have gone over the past year," said Mr Brian O'Dwyer of Sherry Fitzgerald.
On the edge of the city, Superquinn is proceeding with a major development at the Castletroy Shopping Centre on the Dublin Road. And at the Crescent Shopping Centre, off the main Cork route, yet another phase of the development is complete and has added 65,000 sq ft of retail space to the 150,000 sq ft already available where Tesco is the anchor tenant. The planners have allowed it to grow like Topsy.
Rents for a number of tenants have increased dramatically following a review last November by an independent expert, increasing from about £27.50 (34.92) a sq ft to between £40 and £50 (50-63). New rents in phase two are in the mid-£40 range. New arrivals include A Wear, Argos and O'Brien's Sandwich Bars.
Adjacent to the centre will be the new headquarters for Limerick County Council for which contracts were recently exchanged. The 7,300 sq metre building, designed by Bucholz McEvoy Architects, will also incorporate the VEC and County Enterprise Board of ices.
Developments are also expected shortly on the Ennis Road. Dunnes Stores is planning an expansion of its existing store from 19,000 sq ft to 90,000 sq ft and Pat Whelan of Shanvale Ltd has applied to build a 50,000 sq ft centre alongside. In the same area, Michael Tiernan of Babette Ltd has been granted permission for the 90,000 sq ft Ennis Road Shopping Centre. Further out, beyond the city boundary at Coonagh Cross, developers Mulcair Well Drilling are applying to the county council to build a 225,000 sq ft shopping centre but road access remains a problem.
A couple of neighbourhood retail centres are also in the pipeline. On Fr Russell Road, in the south-west of the city, the 10,000 sq ft Racefields Centre is being constructed and will be anchored by a tenant taking a 5,000 sq ft space. In Corbally, the Grove Island centre will have apartments, student units, a leisure centre and a 13,000 sq ft food hall.
The Riverside Commercial Park development, on the Dock Road, the Midwest's first retail warehousing park, has now been operational for 18 months. Its newest tenant is Sliderobes furniture shop. "All that is remaining there is a unit of 3,220 sq ft at £12 (15.24) a sq ft," reports Sherry FitzGerald.
Meanwhile, Dunloe Ewart has planning permission to build Limerick's second retail warehousing park, a development of about 120,000 sq ft on the Dublin Road, to be anchored by a major DIY chain.
In the office market, planning permission to convert the former Cahill May Roberts building at Bank Place into 60,000 sq ft of offices has been granted and Brookvale Trust has commenced construction of a 45,000 sq ft block, the second phase of Hamilton House at the National Technological Park in Plassey.
"We will have completion in September. It is now available for letting for about £12 (15.24) a sq ft," Mr Power said.
At the Raheen Business Park, Eircom recently took 20,000 of the 88,000 sq ft Houston Hall block.
On the Ballysimon Road, the 400,000 sq ft Eastway Business Park has been developed for industrial lettings of between 2,000 and 20,000 sq ft.
"There has been a steady take-up for the first six months but it is a tenant's market for industrial lettings," Mr O'Dwyer said.
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