Stack A
- This topic has 133 replies, 38 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 4 months ago by
.
- Posts
There are shops let to Meadows & Byrne, Starbucks, Nue Blue Eriu, Fran & Jane, Louis Copeland, Henry Jermyn, The Carphone warehouse, House of Tea, Kohl, Inis Meain knitting company, Kevin Sharkey and The Pink Room (whatever that is). Ely is there as well obviously and will be interesting to see if Conran is willing to open now. Official opening is today
Aye, haven’t looked inside yet but I noted they had people circling the perimiter on Segways with advertising banners attached (“Now open, CHQ”). Interesting marketing which i’ve yet to see elsewhere here.
With all the talk here about Stack A, not one picture of it has been posted since it opened as a high-end retail mall over a year ago, so here’s one.
The shop units are all floor-to-ceiling glazing within the cast iron structure. Westbury Mall it is not!
It’s beautifully executed, a testament to the appropriateness of minimal glazing in an historic setting when done properly.When you walk through it, it’s hard to believe this building was lying here unseen for years on end. It’s a great asset to the docklands and to the city. Sadly it’s hard to see the retail mall lasting as there’s only ever a trickle of people through it, not to mention de current climate. Finding a use for the building and finally getting it open seemed to be such an epic saga that it would be awful to see it shut up again.
Info on the restoration here – RIAI chq
I often walk through this and, while the footfall is low during most of the day, it does get quite crowded at lunchtime, the little noodle place is packed for example. The retail has been surprisingly stable, nothing has closed yet as far as I can see.
Good. And I hope I’m wrong notjim! While Starbucks, Insomnia & the noodle place seem to be doing most of the business at the mo, footfall may go up when Luas is running? The location is so great, sandwiched between Sean O’Casey Bridge & Luas.
@notjim wrote:
I often walk through this and, while the footfall is low during most of the day, it does get quite crowded at lunchtime, the little noodle place is packed for example. The retail has been surprisingly stable, nothing has closed yet as far as I can see.
Most of them have two years rent free at least so they don’t have the normal major overhead for the moment. When they do they’ll close in droves
jdivision; maybe in the current climate (economies everywhere imploding, not just in your neck of the woods) owners will get more ‘realistic’ about rents and tenancies and value occupancy over empty. Saw this place in Dec; thought it a waste that the great space was compromised, but thought the sub-division had been done in the least offensive way. One of Dublin’s great interiors, surely.
When will the basement open? That will be a tour-de-force – anyone any pics?@johnglas wrote:
jdivision; maybe in the current climate (economies everywhere imploding, not just in your neck of the woods) owners will get more ‘realistic’ about rents and tenancies and value occupancy over empty. Saw this place in Dec; thought it a waste that the great space was compromised, but thought the sub-division had been done in the least offensive way. One of Dublin’s great interiors, surely.
When will the basement open? That will be a tour-de-force – anyone any pics?One of the city’s great interiors? Yes. Does it even begin to live up to what was promised in terms of retail mix? Definitely not. Does it even get close? No. Questions have to be asked about how it was handled, and the fact that the DDDA was willing to sell it off to a developer for less than what it cost to develop is illustrative. The fact he pulled out of the deal even more so. How any project can have 25% of its build cost go on professional fees is beyond me.
shopping centre landlords are proactively taking steps that you suggest. Rents are being reduced by many owners for those retailers who can produce documentary proof of their struggles. That would be a lot of them these days.
They can’t find anyone for the basement, terence conran pulled out ages agoYes, it’s a sad tale, but not untypical. Unpalatable as it may be, there are going to have to be many lines drawn under many dodgy deals, until this recession (depression?) is over. But we cannot go back to where we were and at least the building remains with a tremendous potential for the future.
Weren’t Harvey Nic’s interested in taking the whole thing pre their Dundrum outlet?
Hindsight is 20/20!
@d_d_dallas wrote:
Weren’t Harvey Nic’s interested in taking the whole thing pre their Dundrum outlet?
Yep but car parking issues meant they said no. In addition, rumour has it the DDDA didn’t want to give them the whole thing, so Harvey Nicks felt they wouldn’t have enough space to make it worthwhile.
Agreed it is a pity to see that aside from lunchtime, the place is pretty much empty… There are quite a few nice shops in there, that probably deserve a bit more passing trade. Admittedly it could probably have done with at least one more crowd-attracting brand like an M&S or something…
Ely CHQ makes pretty good use of the downstairs, the arches are very nice and make lovely intimate settings. However the rest of the downstairs is still empty and unused which is a shame, could be nice for an exhibition space at least.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0329/1224267278845.html
COLM KEENA Public Affairs Correspondent
A WEALTHY individual has approached the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA)with a view to “taking over†the CHQ or Stack A building, according to a group that would prefer to see the building host a science museum.
Seana Kevany, a member of the Discovery group which has been campaigning for the establishment of a science museum at the building, said she and others were told this when they met the authority’s chief executive, Gerry Kelly, on Friday last.
Ms Kevany said they were told the idea would be brought to the board on May 10th, but that Mr Kelly would not say who the individual was, or what he wanted to do with the building.
The building was restored at a cost of approximately €30 million and opened as a retail centre in 2006. It is understood to be losing money and the authority is known to be looking at alternative uses.
Discovery wants half the building to be given over to a science museum. The establishment of a museum has long been a policy objective of the authority, though one that has never been achieved. Leases in the docklands provide for a levy that would fund a museum and that would come into effect once one was opened.
An authority spokesman said it remains “committed to CHQ as a retail outlet. We are working with the tenants in the building to make it as successful as possible.â€
Meanwhile, Fine Gael TD Phil Hogan yesterday released documents showing former DDDA chief executive Paul Maloney writing to Mary Moylan, a civil servant with the Department of the Environment and a director of the DDDA, on October 2nd, 2006, seeking to have a €127 million borrowing facility put in place, following a decision of the authority.
The move was related to the authority’s subsequent disastrous purchase of the Irish Glass Bottle site in Ringsend, in a joint venture with developers Bernard McNamara and Derek Quinlan.
Minutes of a board meeting of the following day, show Mr Maloney raising the issue for the first time with the board, with Ms Moylan attending the meeting.
A source said such matters are often progressed in parallel informal and formal processes, and this could explain the dates
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
