DUNNES STORES IS NAMED AS MARSHES ANCHOR TENANT
€80 MILLION PROJECT EXPECTED TO DELIVER 600 JOBS ACROSS A NUMBER OF SHOPS
MAY 2003
DUNNES Stores is named as the anchor tenant for a major new shopping complex on The Ramparts being built by Calderford Limited.
The development represents an €80 million private sector investment in the centre of Dundalk and is expected to create over 600 jobs.
It is being viewed as a major boost of confidence for Dundalk coming after the town’s recent designation as a Gateway town in the National Spatial Strategy.
A spokesperson for Dunnes says the store will be the flagship outlet for the company outside Dublin and will be fitted out to an extremely high quality, carrying top of the range food, fashion and textile selections.
Dunnes Stores, who already operate two outlets in Dundalk, say they expect to employ in excess of 300 people in the new store.
The existing facilities in Park Street and Ard Easmuinn will both remain open and will be refurbished and upgraded.
The company behind the development is Calderford Limited, led by Belfast-based Lagan Developments Limited. A subsidiary of Fyffes Plc is also a shareholder in Calderford.
The complex will accommodate 13,600sq m net retail space at Rampart Road and its design, which incorporates traditional streetscapes, has already been widely praised.
Brenda Mullan, commercial director of Lagan Developments, points out it is estimated that each year in the region of €214 million of available retail expenditure is lost from Dundalk to other urban centres that have a wide choice of outlets.
She believes it is vital for the town centre to evolve and expand to facilitate the full range of retail shopping opportunities that are available in other large urban centres.
Failure to do this would result in continued and increased loss of retail expenditure from Dundalk.
‘ There is strong demand from national and international retailers to locate in Dundalk, but the retail space is currently not available,’ Ms Mullan states.
‘ The proposed development, by attracting national and international retailers and by further improving retail choice, will provide strong benefits by strengthening the retail base of the town.’
Fintan Tierney, from letting agents Lambert Smith Hampton in Dublin, confirms approaches are made by local, national, European and UK retailers for many of the remaining units.
There is also an approach from a major US retailer.
Developers are anxious the new centre will complement and enhance the existing retail offered in Dundalk and they are particularly keen to attract quality multi-national and independent retailers.
The new development will also greatly enhance the status of Dundalk as the administrative, business and shopping capital of the north-east region.
It has a strong urban design theme and will result in the creation of a new pedestrian priority street for the town with new civic spaces in the form of squares and plazas.
Concerns about the impact the development will have on existing shops is expressed by the chamber of commerce and local traders at the planning stage.