Arnotts pays €5m to surrender Jervis lease

ARNOTTS DEPARTMENT store has paid close to €5 million compensation to the owners of Dublin's Jervis Centre for breaking the lease on its "Arnotts Project" outlet which is to close before the end of next month, writes JACK FAGAN

Arnotts had been paying an annual rent of over €3 million and, with four top retailers now chasing space in the four-storey complex due to be vacated, the Jervis owners are in line to receive an additional €1 million in rental income when they re-let the facility in smaller units.

TK Maxx, New Look, Forever 21 and Next are all looking for large stores in the 9,305sq m (100,169sq ft) building when Arnotts transfers its operation to its main store.

All four are unlikely to be accommodated immediately but, with these and other traders looking for space, the owners of the Jervis Centre are now expected to proceed shortly with a planned extension to the shopping centre.

City planners have already given permission for an extra 5,574sq m (60,000sq ft) of shopping space – mainly in part of the car park and also at the top of the building.

The centre currently accommodates more than 60 traders in a retail area of 36,000sq m (387,500sq ft). There are also 750 car-parking spaces.

Another advantage of going ahead with development work at this stage is that building costs are at their lowest for many years. An extension of this size would cost in the region of €20 million. The annual rent roll already exceeds that figure and the next round of rent reviews is due in 2011.

Debenhams originally held the 35-year lease on one of the anchor units in the Jervis Centre and assigned it to Arnotts after it relocated to the former Roches Stores in the Ilac Centre.

Arnotts has been involved in lengthy negotiations with the landlords to surrender the lease which has another 21 years to run.

Savills yesterday announced the arrival of two more international traders at the Jervis Centre which is fully occupied despite the fall-off in consumer spending generally. The Danish retailer Best Seller is to open two of its fashion brands, Only and Jack Jones, on the first floor of the centre. Only will be taking over the Marcus shop which extends to 150sq m (1,615sq ft) while Jack Jones will trade from a 250sq m (2,691sq ft) unit formerly occupied by Tom Tailor. Marcus had been paying a rent of €230,000 per annum while Tom Tailor was paying €350,000.