Redevelopment SiteThe main post office in Galway city has good redevelopment potential but the site is unlikely to make over €20 million, writes Jack Fagan
An Post is seeking proposals from experienced developers for the re-development of its main post office in Galway which is on Eglinton Street in the centre of the city's retail area.
It is within a short walking distance of the pedestrianised Shop Street and adjacent to Eyre Square.
The site has 3,477sq m (37,426sq ft) of office and warehouse space and fronts on to Eglinton Street. However, with Eircom currently occupying 278sq m (3,000sq ft) of space with its telephone exchange, the site is unlikely to make over €20 million, according to local valuers.
The post office occupies a rectangular-shaped site of 0.283 ha (0.7 acres) which is between Eglinton Street, Abbeygate Street Upper, William Street and Mary Street.
Under the two-to-one plot ratio guideline in the current Galway city development plan, a developer would probably get planning permission for a three-storey building with 5,574sq m (60,000sq ft) of space, including 1,858sq m (20,000sq ft) of retail space on the ground floor.
Zone A retail rents on Eglinton Street are currently about €645 per sq m (€60 per sq ft) - compared to five times that level on nearby Shop Street.
Office space at this location would probably rent at around €322 per sq m (€30 per sq ft).
On the positive side, a new owner could expect to rent new retail space on the post office site to the adjoining Brown Thomas which has been hampered by the limited size of its store.
In valuing the post office site, developers will have to include a substantial discount because of the obligation to hand over a high quality retail unit of 464sq m (5,000sq ft) for use as a new post office at a peppercorn rent.
A new owner has the option of providing alternative premises elsewhere in Eglinton Street or in one part of Eyre Square going towards Prospect Hill.
Surprisingly, An Post also expresses a wish - somewhat naively - to have the post office in either Shop Street or William Street but, with very few shops of that size in the principal high streets and a pent up demand for anything spacious, this could never be a runner.
Developers chasing the post office will also be conscious that it is located within an area of the city centre zoned as having "architectural potential".
It is close to the old city wall.
"This is a pivotal site right in the centre of Galway which is one of Europe's fastest growing cities and well-known for its vibrancy and quality of life," says Maurice Kelly of the Jones Lang LaSalle agency which is representing An Post in its search for development proposals.
"Adjacent to Brown Thomas on William Street, it offers a huge opportunity for redevelopment, subject to planning permission, and the expansion of the city centre's retail and other facilities."
The site is zoned objective "CC" in the Galway Development Plan 2005-2011 which provides for "city centre activities and particularly those which preserve the city centre as the dominant commercial area of the city".
Uses which are compatible with the zoning include retail, residential, offices, banks and professional services, tourist related uses, cultural and community uses, buildings for education, recreation and childcare facilities.
