Re: Re: gaiety centre

Anyone else see this in yesterday’s times

Shopping centre planned for Dawson Street
GARRETT KELLEHER, the businessman behind the Chicago Spire, is hoping to replicate the success of the recently opened Gaiety Centre on South King Street by developing a similar shopping mall in the former Royal Sun and Alliance building on Dawson Street.

It is understood that Shelbourne Development, Kelleher’s property firm, has commissioned a team of architects for the project and is considering submitting a planning application within the next six months.

The company has already received the green light from the local authority to convert part of the ground floor office space into a 186sq m (2,000sq ft) café, which has been let to Costa Coffee on a short-term lease, and industry experts claim this new retail outlet will strengthen Shelbourne’s case for a redevelopment of the site.

However it is expected that Dublin City Council will support a South King Street-style scheme at the former Royal Sun and Alliance building not only because it is keen to broaden the capital’s retail appeal and reverse the consumer exodus to suburban shopping malls, but also because the site is one of the few in the Grafton Street area able to accommodate the larger-scale floorplates demanded by international fashion multiples.