ShoppingCentres:Due to open in October, Athlone Town Centre will be a regional attraction and give midlands shoppers an alternative to Dublin and Galway, writes Jack Fagan.
The UK giant Marks & Spencer is to continue its expansion in the Republic with a new anchor store due to open next October in Athlone's new town centre.
The 1,579sq m (17,000sq ft) store will be the 16th opened by the British trader in the Republic and the 30th across the island of Ireland.
The store will feature the company's new signature style which includes contemporary design, brighter lighting, easy-to-navigate walkways and spacious fitting rooms.
It will carry a wide range of fashion for all, as well as a food hall with a bakery.
Marks & Spencer is likely to be paying a rent close to €500,000 for its store in the centre which will have 70 shops. More than 80 per cent of the space has already been allocated to Irish and international tenants, including Tommy Hilfiger, Esprit, Best Menswear and Fields jewellery.
A range of other major names are due to be announced in the coming weeks, inevitably adding to the frenzy for the remaining stores.
The town centre will be a mixed-use development with over 27,870sq m (300,000sq ft) of retail facilities over two levels, a four-star, 160-bedroom hotel with spa and leisure centre, as well as a 1,300-space car-park. There will also be a substantial residential element.
The town centre, which is likely to have an end value of around €500 million, has been designed to integrate seamlessly with the traditional shopping streets of Athlone. The improvements are expected to give a major boost to the town centre with new streetscapes and plazas for residents and shoppers.
The design by Murray O'Laoire Architects cleverly knits into the urban fabric of the town. Among the scheme's defining features are internal covered streets, a mix of single and double height shops, and natural ventilation through the fully glazed structure.
The town centre is being developed by Gallico, a company headed by hotelier John O'Sullivan with partners Jim Keane and Tom Donohue of Russell Brennan Keane. The same team also developed the highly successful Manor Mills shopping centre in Maynooth.
Marcus Wren, retail director with Bannon Commercial, which is the letting agent for the Athlone centre, says that when the centre opens for business in October, the people of the midlands will no longer have to travel to Dublin or Galway to access big fashion names.
As well as fashion, there will be a strong line-up of leisure retailers providing an excellent retail mix.
