Retailing:The Citywest shopping centre is due to open tomorrow with Dunnes Stores as anchor.
Dunnes bought its 6,700sq m (72,118sq ft) store for an undisclosed sum and, according to Peter Levins of Bannon Commercial, joint agents for the scheme with Savills HOK, the unit was sought after by a number of retailers.
The 14,000sq m (150,695sq ft) shopping centre was built by Davy Hickey Properties and has 32 retail units, five of which are still vacant.
Rents are in the region of €592 per sq m (€55 per sq ft) and the current tenant line up includes Lifestyle Sports, McDonagh shoes, Lalloos photo shop, Jean Scene, Campbell Jewellers, Carphone Warehouse, EBS and Now newsagents. An external avenue will have Eddie Rockets, KFC, Costa Coffee, McCabes Pharmacies, and O'Brien's.
Suggested uses of the remaining five units include a florist, dry cleaners, children's fashion store, optician, menswear store or women's fashion outlet.
The rent roll of the centre is around €3 million per annum, and it is expected to create around 500 jobs.
The agents say the shopping centre is located in an area that has been until now under-served by retail. There are around 7,000 employees at Citywest Business Campus and it has an anticipated future employment capacity of 10,000 to 15,000. There are 45,732 residents within a 15-minute drive of the shopping centre.
There will also be eight offices, 600 free car-parking spaces and a number of residential units. If the proposed Luas extension planned for 2009-2010 goes ahead, it would provide a station at the entrance to the shopping centre site.
