Drogheda town centre has been leapfrogged by retailers looking to locate in the Meath/Louth region because of a lack of "available and suitable stock" around the "Golden Quarter mile" on West Street, according to Gabriel O'Brien, Regional Commercial Manager of Gunne Commercial.
But a number of new developments, which will provide 100,000 sq ft of high-specification retail space between them, may ensure that Drogheda is no longer bypassed in favour of towns like Dundalk and Navan.
"There is a ready tenant demand for that space," according to O'Brien, who says that large UK chains like Boots and Top Shop are looking to get a foothold in the town.
The Haymarket is a mixed-use development flanking either side of the new but as yet unopened Boyne crossing. The result of a public/private partnership between Jons Civil Engineering company and Drogheda Corporation, it comprises 10,000 sq ft of retail space on the south side and 12,000 sq ft on the north. Rents are pitched in the region of £25£35 (€32-€44) per sq ft. The north quay will also have office space, while the south will have 22 townhouses ranging in price from £125,000£130,000 (€158,717E165,066). Prime retail rents in the town are in the region of £40 (€51) per sq ft, while secondary are about £20£25 (€25E32).
In the retail heart of the town, developer Melcorpo Ltd is extending the existing 70,000 sq ft Town Centre shopping centre which fronts on to West Street by 30,000 sq ft. Melcorpo also own a number of peripheral buildings and is proposing to build a separate retail and residential development subject to planning permission.
Paulson Investments has started construction on a seven-storey over basement mixed development on Dyer Street comprising 25,000 sq ft retail, 19,000 sq ft office space and 87 apartments .
Planning has been lodged by NQ Holdings for a 56-unit townhouse development on the site of the old cattle mart on Magdalene Street, which is believed to include a small retail and office element.
If it gets the go-ahead by Drogheda Corporation, the proposed new shopping centre on the site of the old Grammar School could have the most significant impact on the retail fortunes of the town. Parolen Ltd, which is headed by local Gerry Maguire, already got planning permission for the £16 million (€20m) redevelopment, but has since assembled more properties and reapplied for an extended site fronting on to Laurence Street, Peter Street, William Street and Palace Street.
Premises that come on the market in the town centre tend to fetch premium prices. Number 4 bar and cafe on Stockwell Street is currently for sale through Sullivan Property Consultants and is expected to fetch around £1.3 million (€1.65m).
A tax incentive development site at the junction of the Haymarket Bridge with Dyer Street is also for sale and Gunne Commercial quote a guide price of £1.55 million (€1.97m). Opposite the entrance to the Town Centre shopping centre, the 6,500 sq ft former Linenhall premises has a full seven-day licence, planning permission for an offlicence and potential to build 25,000 sq ft of commercial/licensed/office/restaurant/residential accommodation.
The £87 million (€110m) Drogheda bypass, currently under construction, is unleashing vast tracts of development land. Treasury Holdings is believed to have bought options on land surrounding the northern interchange of the M1, in a joint venture which is reputed to be for light industrial and residential use.
Sites currently on the market through Gunne Commercial at Collon Road include a 24.5 acre tract at £250,000 (€317,435) an acre, suitable for a high density residential development. A 30.3 acre zoned industrial site with frontage to the new motorway is on sale for £225,000 (€285,691) an acre and a 23.3 acre commercial site fronting both the motorway and Collon Road has a price tag of £100,000 (€126,974) per acre.
If the proposed Colpe Road - connecting South Drogheda to the Duleek Road and the Ballymakenny Cross Route linking the Port to the M1 at the Collon interchange - goes ahead, it will open up further developable land.
Most of the town's industrial lands are on the western and northern periphery of the town, subject to drainage facilities being put in place to link with the town's treatment plant. The limited supply of serviced zoned land has resulted in a tenfold increase in site values in recent years.
Adjacent to the M1, the Newgrange Business Park which will provide 200,000 sq ft of high-tech office and warehouse space is being developed by P Fallon and Company. A high specification business park, units vary in size from 2,500 sq ft to 10,000 sq ft and can be bought for £85 to £90 (€106E114) per sq ft or leased for £6.50 to £8.00 (€8.25-€10.20) per sq ft. Current occupants include ESB, Tedcastles and Tom Fox car Showrooms.
The IDA's plan for a vast high-tech business park with one million sq ft of office space on the Donore Road is on hold. An Taisce has lodged an objections, on the grounds that it would create "a car-orientated development causing congestion and adverse emissions" and "precludes efficient servicing by public transport". It recommends refusal unless an adequate bus service is provided.
President of Drogheda Chamber of Commerce Mary Considine says she is "disappointed" by the objections. "We are hoping to attract new-age business to the park. With our proximity to the airport, we have the ideal location to attract American and European companies and we need to move along with the times."
If it gets the go-ahead, the park is envisaged to have prime office rents of £10£12 (€13-€15) per sq ft and secondary rents of £6 (€8) per sq ft.
On the tourism front, planning permission is being sought for an interpretative centre and Williamite museum on the 790-acre Coddington Estate, the site of the Battle of the Boyne. The OPW is believed to have paid £9 million (€11m) for the estate two years ago.
