The owners of the Galway Shopping Centre are optimistic they can secure funding for their €200 million revamp into a ‘Liffey Valley’ type development. In a submission to the City Council, Lindat Ltd said the project did not progress because of the worldwide economic collapse.
The company—owned by Pat Doherty’s Harcourt Developments—has sought an extra five years to build the 53,400 square metre retail and residential development. Planning permission on the site is set to expire at the end of February.
“This application was permitted at the beginning of 2010 in the middle of the national economic crisis. In this context, the basic reason for the development not commencing relates to the general funding/banking crisis which has occurred in the country over the last six years or so.
“The recent positive economic signs have indicated that the funding of this project will be achieved and that an extension of duration is warranted,” Lindat’s consultants told the Council, asking that planning be extended until February 2020.
The development will be arranged in four blocks ranging from six to eight storeys around a new public street, and they will include:
- Four anchor units—likely to see a major fashion name and Marks & Spencer join Tesco and Penneys
- 90 smaller retail units in an internal mall, as well as cafés and restaurants.
- 84 apartments (15 one-bed, 75 two-bed and 8 three-bed) as well as public and private amenity areas.
- A municipal art gallery and music centre, as well as a theatre, fronting onto the Headford Road junction.
There will be a total of more than 1,450 parking spaces, and there are plans for a dedicated bus lane and footpath along the Headford Road.
Harcourt Developments, which has debts of around €800 million, is one of the country’s biggest property companies.
Its directors include Andrew Parker Bowles, the former husband of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
