The top ladies fashion retailer H & M is to occupy the third anchor store in the large Whitewater shopping centre in Newbridge, Co Kildare, which is on target to open for business next spring.
H & M's decision to join Debenhams and Marks & Spencer as the main tenants will be seen as a major coup for the centre which now has an exceptionally strong line-up of fashion outlets.
H & M's reputation for providing fashionable clothing at affordable prices, including the newly launched Stella McCartney range, will be an important bonus for Whitewater.
H & M's store will be its largest in Ireland with a floor area of 1,685sq m (18,137sq ft) over three levels.
Zone A rents on the ground floor have been averaging around €2,000 per sq m (€185 per sq ft) while average rents are about €968 per sq m (€90 per sq ft), according to Larry Brennan of Hamilton Osborne King. Colm McEvoy Auctioneers is the joint letting agent.
Gary Cooper, development manager at the Whitewater centre, said yesterday that the H & M letting was "in line with our objective to be the destination for high fashion outside of Dublin".
Other notable fashion retailers will include Zara, Sasha, River Island, Karen Millen, Oasis, New Look and A Wear.
The centre will be the largest outside of Dublin with 32,000sq m (344,448sq ft) of retail space in an impressive, contemporary layout over two floors which will undoubtedly impress shoppers.
There will be more than 60 retailers in all, some of them located in the food court on the first floor which will be capable of seating 650 customers.
A promenade running along one side of the shopping centre to be known as "The Avenue" will feature a number of boutiques and beauty services which is likely to have a strong appeal for women.
Whitewater will have 1,500 car-parking spaces, a multi-screen cinema and 84 apartments.
The developers are Sean Mulryan of Ballymore Properties and Sean Dunne of Mountbrook Homes who are separately involved in a number of major property ventures at home and abroad.
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