The owners of the Omni Park shopping centre at Santry in north Dublin and the German discounter Lidl have struck a new deal that allows the two retail centres to trade successfully alongside each other.
Omni Park has been steadily growing since it opened more than two decades ago along the original Swords Road, between the city and Dublin Airport.
More recently, Lidl acquired a three-acre site beside the Omni campus but failed to get planning approval for a discount centre because it could only be accessed from an adjoining industrial park.
Stephen Murray of letting agent JLL said the two parties involved were encouraged through the planning objectives to amalgamate the two sites and create a bigger shopping destination.
This is exactly what happened and once Lidl completed its standard sized outlet – its 180th store in the Republic – it linked up its newly developed 150-space car park with the existing 900-space car park on site. More importantly it meant that the Lidl shoppers were able to use the original access to Omni.
In return for these concessions, the German company surrendered part of its site to the McKeon and Kennedy families, who own Omni, where planning permission has already been granted for 1,858sq m (20,000sq ft) of retail space in three units. This agreement will also enable Omni to carry out further retail developments on an adjoining site they have owned for several years.
Since opening its new Santry store, Lidl has been in competition with Tesco, the main anchor in the original shopping centre.
In the Omni centre itself, the international restaurant group Nandos has also opened up a new outlet, paying a rent of €125,000 per annum on a new 20-year lease.
Mr Murray said that the commitment shown by Nandos, represented by Savills, provided clear evidence of the improved market interest in Omni.
Other new lettings have also included Peacocks, the Welsh fashion retailer which forms part of t he Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group.
Their new 552sq m (5,941 sq ft) shop is its largest in the Republic.
Other new traders within the centre include CEX, Paco & Pulse and H&M.
Mr Murray added that Omni now presented a combination of uses more usually found in a large regional scale shopping centre.
