Retailers rush to sign up for space at new D13 centre

ShoppingCentres: A large new €70 million shopping centre in north Dublin is almost completely pre-let and is sure to shake-up retailing in the local area. Edel Morgan reports

KFC, McCabes Pharmacy and Carphone Warehouse are among the more high profile retail names who have signed up for units in the new €70 million Tesco Clare Hall Shopping Centre on the Malahide Road, Dublin 13, which is due to open on July 19th.

Reputed to have the largest structural glass facade in Ireland, the supermarket will be elevated on stilts above the ground level 825-space car-park.

Based on a Polish design, the supermarket will be accessed by travelator, and there will be some retail units on the ground floor and first floor, and a food court on the top level.

Tesco's largest store will be located there at 5,200 sq m (55,972 sq ft) and, according to the letting agent CS Tierney O'Neill, the remaining 28 retail units are 98 per cent let.

Situated near the junction of the Malahide Road and Grange Road, Tesco is believed to have paid €15 million for the 10-acre site which formerly belonged to Albert Gubay.

A decision by An Bord Pleanála to allow a Tesco supermarket, household and fashion store of more than the cap of 3,500 sq m (37,674 sq ft) is expected to set a precedent and open the way for other developers.

Competition was stiff among tenants, with several leading pharmacies vying for a unit in the 23,225 sq m (250,000 sq ft) shopping centre.

Other tenants in the shopping centre include First Choice Travel, Nature's Way, David Cullen Jewellers, Purple Gift Shop, Kris Morton Hair Salon, Game Stop, The Jean Scene, No Name, Intrigue, Sloane's Barber, Pulse Accessories, Elverys, Kay's Kitchen, Vivaldi's Coffee Dock and Zumo Juice Bar.

The average rent is €65 per sq foot. The development also has 1,512 sq m (16,275 sq ft) of offices and a petrol filling station.

The vast Tesco store is expected to be a big draw for the catchment area, which may present a threat to existing shopping centres, like the dated Northside and Donaghmede shopping centres. Its accessibility off the busy Malahide Road will also be a factor.

Approximately 6,000 new homes have already been granted planning permission in the locality and it is likely that permission will be secured for a further 4,000 units in the medium-term, which will fuel demand.

Designed by Joseph Doyle architects, the centre will be visible for some distance along the main approach road and will have a "clear, simple, unambiguous" design.

The glazed main frontage will have a canopy along its entire length, with an entrance pavilion containing retail, restaurant and service uses.