UrbanCentres: A redevelopment plan envisages the Northside Shopping Centre as the focal point of a major new urban centre in Coolock, writes Gretchen Friemann
Coolock's Northside Shopping Centre looks and feels all of its 37 years. While double-anchors Dunnes and Superquinn have always ensured the mall is an obligatory destination for the surrounding car-dependent suburbs, the drab retail mix means spending a Saturday afternoon here is about as attractive as a summer holiday in Brussels.
But Northside's new 50 per cent stakeholder, Headland Holdings, plans to change all that. If an ambitious €200 million development plan gets the green light from Dublin City Council and An Bord Pleanála, Northside will soon be at the heart of a new town centre that is likely to include a theatre complex, a multiplex cinema, a Continental-style plaza, and a state-of-the-art leisure centre.
Up to €50 million of that will be spent extending the shopping centre by 9,290 sq m (100,000 sq ft) and upgrading the existing space to attract fashion retailers such as Next, T K Maxx, H & M and Zara.
According to Brian O'Farrell, the managing director of Headland Holdings, by the time his property development company has finished with Northside "Coolock will be as attractive a shopping destination as any of the top centres in Dublin".
And he's under no illusion as to the scale of investment required. Beyond the traffic snarled car-park that surrounds Northside like a moat, is a bleak vista of treeless grasslands dotted by industrial-scale pillboxes and endless housing estates. To the casual visitor, this is a depressing sight but to O'Farrell it's a potential goldmine.
Sweeping his hand across the horizon, he states: "We're going to spend a couple of hundred of million out here. Nobody wants to spend money in this area. If you go on down there you'll see horses tied to ropes on the football pitches and you'll see a pigeon club and a community centre. It's all run down."
Headland's desire to redevelop the area corresponds to Dublin City Council's (DCC) stated objective to transform Northside into a "prime urban centre". Under the current draft development plan Northside is one of nine suburban areas the council cites as having the "potential/capacity to deliver on a range of requirements, including: increased density of development, accessibility by public transport, a viable retail and commercial core, a comprehensive range of high quality community and social services, and a distinctive spatial identity with a high quality urban environment".
In other words, the council is keen to promote extensive development in the area. But the Northside rejuvenation scheme differs from the other eight designated "prime urban centres" because here DCC is a majority landholder.
Headland and the local authorities want to see 65 acres of land at Northside redeveloped. Of that Mr O'Farrell's company owns around 23 acres, which includes the shopping centre, which is jointly owned by AIB Investment Managers, as well as the Northside Retail Park and surrounding lands. DCC owns around 19 acres while the remainder is divided between the Northern Area Health Board and the local VEC.
According to Brian Moran of Urban Capital, a company that specialises in public/private partnerships for large-scale property developments, and which is acting for both Headland and DCC in the Northside scheme, "no firm decision has yet been made on the structure of the deal". But he stressed the local authority would follow a "strict procurement process".
He said: "At this stage the master plan for the development scheme isn't likely to be completed for another few months so it's far too early to talk about the deal structure."
However, he compared the multiple ownership issues and the complexities these create to the piecemeal rejuvenation of Temple Bar. "Not all the landowners came on board on day one, it was developed in different stages over a number of years." And that's exactly how he envisages the transformation of Northside from what he describes as a "poorly planned 1960s suburban area" with "large disparate spaces" into a "coherent and vibrant town centre".
Coolock will have to wait until 2010 before the scheme is fully completed but before work on the new town gets underway Headland aims to overhaul the Northside Shopping Centre and attract some heavyweight retailers.
Mr O'Farrell understands that "Dunnes and Superquinn are two of the biggest draws" but he wants to change Northside's image from a convenient supermarket stop to an enjoyable shopping destination. And he's confident Headland can reel in the big names because of the 40,000-strong surrounding suburban population as well as the large employment hub of Beaumont Hospital.
"Across the road is Beaumont Hospital and 3,000 people work there and they like to get out at lunchtime," he said.
Currently, Northside's food and drink facilities are confined to a cheerless mezzanine hospital-style café serving the bare essentials.
Mr O'Farrell is determined to offer his "loyal shoppers" something different. By summer he claims there will be at least four restaurants with O'Brien's Sandwich Bars due to open within the coming weeks. "We have the population all around here, we need to respond to that population now and give them a new generation shopping centre and that's what we're going to do."
However, the centre's upgrade is not a decision Headland can take on its own. Joint owners AIB Investment Managers, which bought the 50 per cent stake in Northside off Green Property Co around 10 years ago, is understood to have agreed in principle to develop the centre although it's not yet clear how much money the fund is prepared to commit to the upgrade.
AIBIM is a relatively low key institutional fund in the market and sources question whether it is prepared to make a significant investment in a refurbishment programme that would boost the rent roll.
Property sources claim Headland is eager to buy out AIBIM's stake but argue the fund is unlikely to agree to this due to the scarce investment opportunities in the market.
Headland bought its 50 per cent stake from Green last year for around €40 million and then snapped up the nearby retail park and additional lands for a further €20 million.
However, Headland wasn't the only firm to spot the development potential of Northside. According to industry sources, Treasury Holdings was the underbidder to Headland for the shopping centre.
In fact, Mr O'Farrell is a good friend of the company's founders, Johnny Ronan and Richard Barrett. Headland and Treasury are joint developers on the M1 Business Park while Mr O'Farrell's Malahide-based estate agency, O'Farrell Cleere, is a selling agent on the scheme.
Northside is Headland's first major development project and one that is dependent on substantial investment. Yields at the shopping centre are comparatively poor, so bad in fact that Mr O'Farrell claims he didn't even look "at the figures" when he decided to buy Northside.
He said: "We didn't want a passive investment collecting rents, we wanted the development potential and we knew that (DCC) wanted to regenerate the area. When we came in here we just thought in terms of the shopping centre and then we saw the retail park and we were offered that and we bought it immediately. Then the site behind it was for sale and once we bought the front bit we decided to also buy the back bit.
"We want to create a lifestyle out here, not just nine to six. We want people in the evening, cinemas, late night shopping and seven-day shopping. We want to get better fashion houses to come out. As part of that Dublin City Council want a new town centre, which we'll provide. They'd like to see a plaza here across the road with maybe a theatre, and new community facilities."
But before all this can go ahead, Mr O'Farrell wants to boost the yields at the shopping centre.
Although he claims it has an annual footfall of six million, rents here are €150 Zone A compared to €250 Zone A at Tallaght and €350 Zone A at Blanchardstown and Dundrum.
By extending the centre by another 9,290 sq m (100,000 sq ft) and upgrading the existing space, Mr O'Farrell hopes to attract high street fashion chains like Next, Zara and H & M.
Currently the major fashion trader in the centre is New Look, which recently took over A-Wear's lease. Mr O'Farrell describes the retailer as a "great asset to the centre".
He continues: "It was their first major store in Ireland and I understand they have exceeded their sales targets by 40 per cent so it's a well-performing store for them. And we need to get more fashion traders like them in here."
However, Northside faces far more competition now than it did when it first opened its doors in 1968. Last year Tesco unveiled its largest store in Ireland in the Clare Hall complex, which has enabled the leading supermarket to boost its non-food item range. Then there is the newly enlarged Blanchardstown as well as the Pavilions Shopping Centre in Swords.
According to Mr O'Farrell, Northside's greatest competition is from the city centre and Blanchardstown. "That's where people go when they want to spend time in the shops." He claims that Clare Hall was a threat initially with footfall plummeting by 6,000 in the opening week but "those people came back the following week. There's a very loyal, local customer-base here."
Property experts believe the removal of one of Northside's supermarket anchors is key to the centre's aim to create more space for large fashion retailers in the immediate short-term.
And with Superquinn now in new hands, some industry sources are predicting the company will pull out of Northside, claiming its 2,437 sq m (26,228 sq ft) store here is not as strategically important as its trading centres in more affluent suburbs.
Although Mr O'Farrell did not discuss this scenario, he is conscious of Northside's core market and claims he will target discount traders like Costco. He even suggested the site was large enough to take Ikea but said, "we wouldn't want them out here, simply because of the burden they would put on the infrastructure".
While Northside is close to the M50 and the Port Tunnel, public transport to the centre can be chaotic but Mr O'Farrell stresses the upgrade of the shopping centre and its surrounding lands will include better transport links. He claims Dublin Bus is already in negotiation with Headland and AIBIM to secure better and safer access to the centre.
According to Mr O'Farrell, Northside will be a "huge success" if it offers a "real alternative" to Blanchardstown and the city centre.
The shopping centre can only work to its full potential, he maintains, if it is also part of a well-planned development that offers people the facilities they now expect.
Mr O'Farrell predicts the shopping centre upgrade will be completed within three years while construction on the new town centre with its Continental square, scenic parkland, leisure centre, cinemas and a theatre will be phased over five years.
