In Short

A round-up of other stories in brief

Top traders sign up for fashion mall at Omni centre

The fashion mall at the Omni shopping centre in north Dublin continues to attract top class traders. The latest letting is to Tempest, a multi-brand store opening its first outlet in Dublin. It is a sister company of Northern Ireland retailer Menarys and will stock brands like French Connection, Oasis, Warehouse, Miss Selfridge, Morgan, Kookai and Faith Shoes. The trader is fitting out a store of 1,500sq m (16,146sq ft) which will considerably strengthen trading in Omni.

"This letting is a strong endorsement of the centre," says George Ross of Jones Lang LaSalle. Mason Owen Lyons is the joint agent. Among the other traders opening their first Irish shops in Omni are Exhibit, also from the North, and Only of Denmark. The Danish fashion group Best Seller, which has traded at Omni with its Vero Moda brand for a number of years, has introduced three further names, Jack N Jones, Exit and Only. Other newcomers to the centre include Best Menswear, Perfume Shop, Sky TV, ZA Pizza and The Laptop Shop.

€1.6m for Clanwilliam Sq office

Agent Browne Corrigan is looking for around €1.6 million for an own-door office investment at a convenient location - 3 Clanwilliam Square, Dublin 2. The 102sq m (1,098sq ft) of space is let to Transfusion Positive on a 25-year lease from 1997 at a rent of €50,000 per annum. The lease, which also includes three car-parking spaces, has another 15 years to run.

Lifestyle Sports for Carlow's Barrow Valley Retail Park

Lifestyle Sports is the latest tenant to sign up to Barrow Valley Retail Park in Carlow, the area's newest shopping destination which is anchored by Dunnes Stores and 4-Home Superstore. Lifestyle is leasing Unit 3 in the centre which is 1.5 miles from the town beside the northern relief road to Portlaoise. The retail park opened late last year with 16,080sq m (173,084sq ft) of space. A second phase, under construction, will open next year.

Dunnes Stores, which has a food and homestore at the park, is already expanding by around 2,323sq m (25,005sq ft). "Barrow Valley is well-positioned in the midst of a populous and popular shopping area and the second phase expansion will add significantly to the choice of retailers in the area," says Lisa McGrane, retail agency director of Jones Lang LaSalle which is marketing the centre along with Sherry FitzGerald Haythornwaite.

Lifestyle's unit has 511sq m (5,500sq ft) and a 198sq m (2,131sq ft) mezzanine and is beside Dunnes' homestore. Units at the park are available to let under new 25-year leases with annual rents over €137,000 each.

Bertoni for centre on Green

The Danish branded multiple menswear retailer Bertoni has secured a letting on the first floor of the St Stephen's Green Centre in a unit of around 154sq m (1,658sq ft) including mezzanine. Neon, the established retailer in the centre, is moving to this enlarged unit to retail the Bertoni brand and is paying a rent of €130,000 per annum. Bertoni targets the fashion menswear market in the 18 to 35-year age group and has recently secured a number of key sites in Dublin, including the Blanchardstown centre, Dundrum Town Centre, Duke Street, and Talbot Street with another store to open in the Pavilions, Swords.

The addition of this retailer in a well located unit on the first floor strengthens the attraction of the St Stephen's Green centre, says Stephen Murray, director of letting agent Jones Lang LaSalle. The deal follows a number of letting successes in the centre to other retailers, including GameStop and the expansion of Hughes & Hughes on the ground floor.

New bistro for Smithfield

The large number of solicitors and barristers who use Smithfield Square near the Four Courts in Dublin will shortly have the choice of a new restaurant when Chapati Restaurant opens in the former Kelly & Ping premises in Smithfield village.

The new cafe/bistro will focus on both day and evening time trade and will operate alongside the successful Christophes which is run by a former chef in Patrick Guilbaud. Chapati will be paying a rent of around €75,000 for a 345sq m (3,714sq ft) ground floor unit. Mark McDonnell of Hooke & MacDonald, who handled the letting, says that the growing population and the ever expanding working environment were key factors in attracting Chapati to Smithfield.

Tralee retail unit for €1.4m

Lisney is quoting over €1.4 million for a retail investment at Lower Castle Street in Tralee, Co Kerry. The three-storey over ground floor shop is let to Sasha on a 35-year lease from 1988 at a rent of €52,500. Edward Hanafin of Lisney says there is potential for "significant rental growth" at the next rent review in August, 2008. It is for auction on October 11th.

€2m for Naas retail building

John O'Reilly of Sherry FitzGerald O'Reilly is guiding €2 million for a retail building with overhead offices at 7 South Main Street, Naas, Co Kildare, which is to go to auction on September 27th. The ground floor has an area of 141sq m (1,518sq ft).

Keen rents in north docks area

Three international high-tech companies have rented office space in Castleforbes House, a new office building developed by Danninger Ltd in Dublin 3. Areva T&D, which provides electricity transmission and distribution systems, and Easy Dentic, which provides biometric security and mobile surveillance systems, have taken space in the six-storey Block B of Castleforbes House where Jones Lang LaSalle is quoting rents of €300 per sq m (€27.87 per sq ft) and €3,175 per car-parking space. Areva T&D is occupying 144sq m (1,550sq ft) on a 25-year lease and Easy Dentic 227sq m (2,443sq ft) on a nine-year 11-month lease. They join Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES) which is already occupying the penthouse suite of 77sq m (829sq ft).

Simon McEvoy of Jones Lang LaSalle who arranged the lettings to Areva T&D and Easy Dentic believes this highlights the attraction of the resurgent north docks area, from the IFSC to the new Point Village development, mirroring the developments on the south docks but at a much more affordable rental level. "All three of these international companies have taken advantage of the affordable rents in an area that is set to become even more desirable with the arrival of the Luas extension and further developments, including the Point Village and Spencer Dock in the near future."