Retail Sector: Dunnes Stores is to anchor a major new shopping centre complex at Citywest, writes Jack Fagan
Dunnes Stores is to be the anchor tenant in a new shopping centre due to open towards the end of next year alongside Citywest Business Campus, off the Naas Road in west Dublin.
The Irish multiple has signed contracts to acquire the main store of 4,913sq m (52,883sq ft) which will be the centrepiece of an attractive shopping facility. It will accommodate a full format Dunnes Stores with 60 per cent of the space allocated to drapery and the balance to grocery.
Aidan O'Hogan of Hamilton Osborne King said Dunnes would undoubtedly be a strong driver for other retailers which wished to move into Citywest Shopping Centre.
The new centre is expected to step up competition between the the range of shopping centres in west Dublin - from Blanchardstown on the opposite side of the Liffey, to Liffey Valley which is to be doubled in size over the next few years, The Mill centre in Clondalkin and The Square in Tallaght which is also to be enlarged.
A few miles away in Naas, there are plans for another shopping centre while Maynooth is also to have a similar facility next year.
The population living in and around Citywest has grown rapidly over the past few years. The promoters estimated that more than 15,000 people live within five minutes' drive of the site. This number increases to 194,000 residents within a 25-minute drive time.
Work is already well advanced on improving the Naas dual carriageway which runs alongside Citywest. It is also proposed to extend the Luas service to Citywest over the next few years with a station planned at the entrance to the shopping centre.
The shopping facility is expected to greatly enhance the the business campus, the first of a new generation to be developed in the Dublin area. The retail facilities will form part of a mixed-use scheme planned for a 17-acre site which will accommodate 27 shops along with several restaurants, a crèche and medical centre, offices and 360 apartments. A 600-space car-park will lead directly into a high quality internal shopping mall.
Construction has already started on the 14,000sq m (150,695sq ft) shopping complex which will house fashion, lifestyle and amenity shopping, according to joint agents Hamilton Osborne King and Bannon Commercial which are in advanced discussions with a number of top retailers.
The pharmacy outlet has already been put out to tender and leases are about to be offered to a number of well-known branded fashion and convenience retailing companies.
Citywest will have a strong mix of fashion outlets for all ages as well as quality convenience shopping to service the local community. The shopping centre is being developed by Davy Hickey Properties, owners and developers of the 400-acre business campus which accommodates more than 120 national and international companies. The best known tenants include AOL, SAP, AIB, Nestle and Pfizer.
There are currently about 6,500 employees on the campus, a figure that is expected to grow to between 10,000 and 15,000. The campus has been one of the great success stories of the property market over the past 15 years and has the lowest vacancy rate of any major business area in Dublin of only 4 per cent.
Citywest is also to house Eolus University Research Campus, a joint venture between Dublin City University and Davy Hickey Properties. That project is due to enrol its first students later this month.
