Plans lodged for €60m retail park in Shannon town

PLANS FOR a €60 million retail park for Shannon town that it is claimed will create 250 jobs were lodged yesterday.

The proposal by Greenband Investment comprises a retail warehouse park for bulky household goods, a discount food store, a neighbourhood centre to include a small convenience store, and a number of other retail outlets.

According to one of the partners in the project, developer Seán Halpin, the project will create 250 direct jobs, 200 indirect jobs and 180 jobs during the construction phase.

The retail warehouse park and neighbourhood centre is the first of two phases of this project, with the second phase comprising a residential development, and plans for development are to be lodged shortly.

The retail park will comprise two anchor retail warehouse tenants, as well as a number of smaller outlets. One anchor tenant has already been secured, subject to planning permission, and negotiations with a second are at an advanced stage.

Mr Halpin said the project would bring much-needed employment and retail space to Shannon, enhancing the town's retail profile and providing a very significant boost to existing retailers and the wider local economy.

Mr Halpin said: "This would buck the national economic downturn and help redress existing significant spending leakages to both Ennis and Limerick.

"Shannon is very much under-serviced in terms of the retail sector, with a very large proportion of locals going elsewhere for their shopping at a significant loss to the town, both in terms of spend and employment."

He added: "The town has a population of around 9,000, with another 7,000 people working in the Shannon Free Zone, and yet only has a total retail warehouse floor-space of 3,000 sq m. By comparison, Ennis has just twice the population but almost 12 times the retail floor-space.

"Because of this, there is a very significant haemorrhage of retail spend to other locations, which is obviously not good for the local economy."

Pending planning permission, Greenband Investments is hoping to begin works on the project in June of next year, with a 15-month build period.

The development is due to open for business in late autumn 2010.