Shopping CentresThe lord mayor of Kilkenny officiated at the topping-out ceremony of MacDonagh Junction, the €250 million mixed-use development near the city's railway station. Major tenants have also been announced, including Dunnes Stores and retailer TK Maxx.
The new centre is scheduled for completion this autumn. It combines a mix of residential, commercial, business and leisure uses, and will include a hotel, bowling alley, gym and performance spaces.
Aside from the principal tenant (Dunnes Stores), retailers will include Barratt Shoes; Carphone Warehouse; Champion Sports; Clarks Shoes; Costa Coffee; Dr & Herb; Fields Jewellers; Gloria Jean's Coffee; Health Express; Next; Peter Mark; Pull & Bear; River Island; The Health Store; 3 Phones; TK Maxx; and Virgin and Zumo Juice Bar (among others).
The topping-out involved a section of the original Kilkenny workhouse buildings, which have been restored and conserved as an integral part of the development. The mayor, Cllr Martin Brett, did the honours, with Kilkenny Dáil deputies Phil Hogan and John McGuinness and members of the borough council in attendance.
High-spec offices, apartments, hotel and an exhibition space will create a new community environment, adding further to Kilkenny's vibrant social and cultural life, the developers claim. The development is in keeping with the integrated area plan for Kilkenny and the city and county development plan.
The new centre will employ more than 500 people when it opens later this year. About 600 people are currently employed in the building of the new centre.
"Kilkenny residents can look forward to a fresh new experience when they visit MacDonagh Junction," says Paul Hanby, one of the principal partners in the development. "It is a place designed with people in mind and there is a good mix of amenity, open space and shopping facilities which will have overall appeal."
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