The Square Town Centre in Tallaght, south west Dublin, is to be extended by about 20 per cent at a cost of around £140 million (#177.76m). An Bord Pleanala has just cleared the way for a nine-storey over basement extension which will form a new shopping area to be known as The Millennium Square. It will also have about 360 apartments, two hotels with less than 50 rooms each, 107,000 sq ft of offices, restaurants, bars and a nightclub in the basement.
More significantly, the extension will include over 152,000 sq ft of retail space, of which 65,000 has already been committed to Penneys at a reputed selling price of around £12 million (#15.24m). There will also be an additional 1,500 car-parking spaces. Because of the size of the extension, it is likely to be tackled in stages, with many of the apartments being sold off the plans. The owners of The Square include AIB, Bank of Ireland, Irish Life, Canada Life and developer Kenny Rohan. Lowe Taverns, which objected to the project, plans to provide a bar, apartments and offices on an adjoining site.
