Tuborg

This is exactly what was needed. More sprawling, out of town retail/leisure development, to the further detriment of the city centre. Planning in Limerick really has become a sick joke at this stage!:rolleyes:

Leisure centre and cinema approved at City East Plaza (Limerick Leader)

By Nick Rabbitts

LIMERICK looks set to get its third cinema after planners gave the green light to a multi-million euro development on the Tipperary Road.
The plans, lodged by developer Ralph Parkes, will see a leisure facility consisting of bowling facilities and games areas, as well as foyer and retail areas built alongside the cinema – in a move which could generate hundreds of jobs in construction and retail at Ballysimon.

Limerick County Council originally called for more information on the plan – named the ‘City East Plaza’ – after it deemed the development could be liable to flooding from the nearby Groody River.

The county authority also sought more information on the means of escape from the complex in case of fire. It also asked Mr Parkes to provide further information on car parking spaces and the type of retail the units will be used for. But the development has now been given the go ahead after the developers gave a transport assessment among other things.

If completed, the cinema will join multiplexes at the Crescent Shopping Centre and Dooradoyle. And plans for a cinema in the Bedford Row are still on track. Fianna Fail’s city councillor Kieran O’Hanlon has said this permission once again brings up the issue of the boundary extension.

“The only concern I have is that (this is being built in] outlets outside of the city centre.

“We have a city centre strategy, and a lot of empty units in the city itself. Having outlets in the suburbs does not do a lot for the city. The county council has disregarded (the city council strategy] in my opinion. They have basically ignored the guidelines, and this emphasises the need for the boundary extension. There is room for more cinemas in Limerick, and I would welcome that but I have strong reservations about the County Council continuing their strategy which takes little or no account of the need of city to be supported as the capital of the Mid-West region,” he said.

However, Cllr O’Hanlon – who serves the city area near to where the development is to happen – has welcomed the employment boost the development would bring.

He added: “In times of recession, a lot of people actually go to the cinema. I know myself growing up, there were seven or eight cinemas in the city, and it was a very favourite pastime. My own children now go to cinema very regularly.”

Limerick County Council have declared the project can go ahead with 23 conditions.

@CologneMike wrote:

Personally I would expect the “same conditions” to be re-applied as in the first approval and similar protective conditions for the Quin building and the former Town Hall.

The Bank Place in layout is nothing but a throw back to the days where the city showed it’s arse to the river.

The entrance / exit for deliveries must be moved to Michael Street (i.e. Former Work Space Building).

Maybe they could instead move the entrance / exit for cars to the opposite side of Michael Street and access to the underground car park per tunnel.

Regeneration Developments would have us believe that Bank Place will be transformed into some sort of idyllic plaza area when in reality there will be a service road ploughing through it!

The internal configuration of the complex will also have to be improved. You simply cant have one of the “landmark entrances” opening onto some department store!

I believe the developers argument against using Michael Street for deliveries etc is that it is too narrow for large trucks and access to the basement via a ramp would be difficult.

Realistically though, if a proper delivery strategy could be agreed, traffic circulation on Michael Street could be managed effectively?

I also hope ABP lays down strict conditions in relation to the Granary as the proposed intervention seems pretty unsympathetic to me anyway!

Attached; Proposed Michael Street elevation.

@CologneMike wrote:

Douglas Wallace Architects goes into liquidation

That’s not helpful . . . . 🙁

I think this project is cursed, its just destined never to happen!

Who’s going to take care of the inevitable design tweaks that the ABP report is going to order?

Anyway, heres another line on the Opera Centre. I suppose we shouldn’t really be surprised!:rolleyes:

Anglo owns 50% stake in stalled Limerick scheme (Sunday Business Post)

By Richard Curran

Anglo Irish Bank has emerged as a 50 per cent shareholder in a stalled €350million shopping centre development in Limerick city centre. Anglo acquired the stake in Regeneration Developments, the company behind the proposed Opera Centre in Limerick.

Accounts recently filed for the company show that, at the end of 2007, it had bank borrowings of €81million,payable within one year.

The loans were given by Bank of Ireland, and Anglo was not a banker to the project.

Anglo declined to say how much it paid for the stake. The three property developers behind the project, who are also clients of Anglo, are David Courtney, Jerry O’Reilly and Terry Sweeney.

Accounts for Regeneration Developments show the company’s borrowings were secured on properties on the site, options on further properties and personal guarantees from the three, totalling €50 million.

The company accounts valued the site and development for the Limerick centre at €89 million at the end of 2007. It had further investments valued at €19.6 million, but creditors falling due within one year totalling €109million.

The auditors did not qualify the accounts but drew attention to the carrying value of the company’s investments, saying the economic outlook and property downturn ‘‘creates an uncertainty about the appropriateness of the carrying value of the investment and stock’’.

Even valuing total assets at €106 million, the directors said that the company had net current liabilities of €19.6 million and ‘‘limited income’’ at the end of December 2007. Anglo Irish acquired its stake in the venture on December 21, 2007.

Industry sources said that the now nationalised bank acquired its share with a view to selling it on to private clients, but that never happened.

The project, which would have been the biggest shopping development in the mid-west, was granted planning permission last September, but is awaiting the outcome of a Bord Pleanála decision. It had the full backing of Limerick City Council but, in the current environment, it seems highly unlikely the project will go ahead.

Courtney, Sweeney and O’Reilly bought the venture from a group of developers in February 2007 and sold half of it to Anglo at the end of that year. None of the directors could be contacted for comment, and Anglo Irish declined to answer any queries other than to confirm its 50 per cent shareholding.

@CologneMike wrote:

Bedford Row ~ Cinema Complex ~ Fordmount / Burke Kennedy Doyle Architects

In City Central Phase Two Fordmount are planning to attract leisure and food operators to Bedford Row in order to create a shopping synergy with the primarily fashion based tenant mix evident in City Central Phase One. Plans are currently in design phase for a state of the art cinema complex with a number of complimentary retail & food units at street level.

The development will be designed by Burke Kennedy Doyle Architects who are responsible for delivering several of Limerick City’s showcase developments such as Riverpoint, The Marriott Hotel and Lansdowne Hall on O’Callaghan Strand. Plans will be launched in early 2009.

I found this on Fordmount’s new web site.

Long, long overdue for the city centre and recession proof on top of that. Anybody got anything new on this?

There has been a lot of conflicting reports about this project. The plans were first announced late last Summer but the word at the moment is that any development is a good while off yet. I don’t know are they even close to submitting an application.

A pub has recently opened up in the old Nevada Smyths premises on the corner, probably on a short term lease!

As I said at the time, there is significant scope to the rear of the building, with a large area of warehouses etc stretching through to Sarsfield Street. Hopefully these will be included in any new development, it would take away some of the dead frontage that is currently plaguing that street.

Traders livelihoods “not threatened” by new market

Anne Sheridan

The livelihood of traders at the Milk Market will not be under threat when the new 6 day market opens in mid 2010. However the costs of having a stall is likely to rise, according to the market trustees.

Some traders had expressed concern that they would not be in a position to produce goods and man stalls over a six-day market. But David O’Mahony, chairman of the market trustees said every current trader will be facilitated each Saturday – their traditional day of trading – in the new market.

“This is an opportunity for them. Their livelihoods will be enhanced, not threatened. Traders ability to attend a six – day market was never in the frame,” Mr O’Mahony told the Limerick Leader.

Responding to claims that the market would be “a sophisticated machine, taking away its rough and ready character”, he said the new design is also about facilitating the wishes of customers as well as traders.

A seasonal calendar of events and stalls for the Mil Market is being prepared, which will see a diversity of new and old traders attend on different days of the week, excluding Monday when the market will be closed. “But it wont take away from the Saturday market” said Mr O’Mahony.

However he confirmed that the cost of having a stall at the market on Saturday – which is currently €20 – is likely to increase. “Prices haven’t been changed at the market since 2003, so it would be fair to assume that there would be change, but nothing outrageous,” He said.

He added that he would be interested to hear traders expectations of what the price should be. Chris O’Connor, development co-ordinator with the project, also said they have no intention of charging €100, or “anything near that” for a stall, which is the amount paid by traders in other markers in the country.

Mr O’Connor said the opening of the market would be “a national event”, and those in the food industry, including Darina Allen and Minister for Food Trevor Sargent have supported the ideals behind the new market.

It has been confirmed that the size of the new units will be in the region of 3 metres by 2.5 metres, which would increase the size of the stall, especially as vehicles would no longer be permitted in the new market.

A number of traders have opposed aspects of the €2 million redevelopment plan, which will see the market covered with a tensile roofing, designed by a specialist company in Munich, Germany.

However plans to launch a judicial review – to overturn An Bord Pleanala’s decision to grant planning – are still afoot.

@CologneMike wrote:

I hear that there appears to be very little or no activity across the road from the proposed Travel Lodge Hotel where the Parkway Valley Shopping Center is to be built. Is it been mothballed? Any body got up to date information?

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There hasnt been a stir on that site for the last 6 months. The money has run out, and the banks arent lending so this development is going nowhere fast.

You really would have to question the future of this project. It was conceived in a time when we simply couldnt stop building shopping complexes irrespective it seemed of whether the demand actually existed in the first place. Of course it should also be mentioned that this is another development that was waved through by Limerick County Council.:rolleyes:

A whole host of potential anchor tenants were supposedly being linked with Parkway Valley but in reality it seems that they are having serious difficulty in getting retailers to sign up.

It looks like we could have a serious white elephant on our hands here!

The oral hearing into the proposed extension of the Crescent Shopping Centre got underway this week.

‘City will decline if Crescent expands’ (Limerick Leader)

John Hogan

LIMERICK City is “leaking” business and trade in the city centre could drop by up to 20 per cent if approval is granted for a major extension to the Crescent Shopping Centre, an oral hearing of An Bord Pleanala was told yesterday.
The hearing – which began yesterday morning – is being held to allow a number of different bodies to voice their opinions on the extension which would host a Marks & Spencer unit as its anchor tenant.

Limerick County Council refused planning permission for the development but the decision was appealed by the applicants, Stapleyside Company Limited, leading to the hearing.

Experts, speaking on behalf of Limerick City Council which has objected to the development, claimed yesterday that the extension would lead to the overall decline of the city centre. However, supporters of the plans said that their proposal satisfies the guidelines set down in the Mid-West Retail Strategy and could easily work in tandem with the development of business in the city.

Acting senior planner with Limerick City Council Kieran Reeves said due to retail decline, 25 per cent of dwellings in the city centre are now vacant, with 50 per cent of the Georgian buildings unoccupied.

“Limerick city centre should be the hub of economic activity in the region but suburban retail development has been growing twice as fast as that of the city,” said Mr Reeves. “We have failed to retain the city’s place among the retail hierarchy and there is a need to protect that as enshrined in the Mid-West Retail Strategy.”

Mr Reeves added that no agreements have yet been signed for the proposed Opera Centre but that potential tenants would be “watching keenly” as proceedings got under way at the hearing in County Hall this week.

Planning consultant John Spain said that, if granted permission, the proposed development – combined with those in Coonagh Cross and Parkway Valley – would have a cumulative impact of at least 20 per cent on the comparison retail trade of the City Centre.

Commercial property specialist Patrick Seymour, speaking on behalf of the City Council, said that Limerick was the only city in the country where retail rents were more expensive in the suburbs – referring specifically to the Crescent Shopping Centre – than the city centre.

Consultant engineer Seamus McGearailt, speaking for the City Council, said there were “serious shortcomings” in the Transport Impact Assessment carried out for Stapleyside. He claimed that the development would compromise the Southern Green Bus Route and undermine the overall transport strategy for the city.

David O’Mahony, of O’Mahony’s bookstore, spoke yesterday on behalf of the Limerick City Business Association, saying he had come to “plead for the city”.

“I ask you. Walk the main streets of the city, walk the side streets and listen to the silence. Look at the vacant units, some of which haven’t even seen tenants,” said Mr O’Mahony.

“Nobody in their right minds could say the city is thriving. Customers are telling us that the city is leaking business. There’s plenty of evidence of available sites in the city but the level of floor space being granted in the suburbs has demoted the city.”

Each of the speakers against the development claimed that it contravened the Mid-West Retail Strategy, but Planning and Environmental consultant Chris McGarry, speaking on behalf of Stapleyside, argued otherwise. Mr McGarry claimed that, due to the large number of amenities in the area, Dooradoyle, had become a town centre and therefore was entitled to prioritise retail development in the area, as dictated in the Regional Strategy.

Jenny Mulholland, speaking on behalf of Marks & Spencer, reiterated that the retail giant gave its full support to the Stapleyside application, saying that the Crescent would best serve the store’s needs. She did, however, also state that M&S still desires a second store in the city to complement the proposed one in Dooradoyle.

Mr McGarry added that Stapleyside representatives would continue to give presentations today addressing objectors’ concerns, including those regarding the contentious issue of traffic management in the area.

An Bord Pleanala have upheld the City Councils decision to grant permission for a tensile roof and other associated works at the Milk Market.

Inspector’s Report

Milk Market okay by Bord Pleanala (Limerick Leader)

By Anne Sheridan

THE Milk Market is to open six days a week from early next year and will include a 120-sear restaurant and a translucent, tensile roof.
Permission was granted for the development by Limerick City Council last June, but it was appealed to An Bord Pleanala by one market trader and a local body, who opposed the plans.

Mayor of Limerick John Gilligan, a former chairperson of the Market Trustees and supporter of the plans, and said some objections were “politically motivated.”

“All of these were dismissed by An Bord Pleanala, but some submissions were made by very genuine people,” added the Mayor.

“I’m absolutely delighted it has received planning. This is going to be very big for the city and I look forward to the revamped market. It will give it an entire lease of life and the litmus test will be to see it running up at 6pm at night,” said the Mayor.

David O’Mahony, chairman of Limerick Market Trustees, said it has been a long process from concept to design and planning.

“The time in the planning process has actually worked in our favour. The economic environment now is more conducive to realistic tendering,” said Mr O’Mahony.

He said the market will establish itself as the “must visit location” and will provide a boost to the local economy.

Under the plans the market is to be partially covered, but a petition submitted to An Bord Pleanala maintained that the market should be kept as an open and saved from “becoming a shopping mall.”
However, the board found that the “translucent structure” of the tensile roofing should ensure that the open market atmosphere is not lost.

An Bord Pleanala granted planning permission with 10 conditions attached, and have ordered that a proposed structure on Mungret Court shall be omitted.

Trader Marie Hussey, who operates the Green Acres Cheese Shop at the Milk Market, said she felt the application would “have major implications for the quality of the market environment and the economic viability of current traders.”

The Thomond Archaeological and Historical Society stated the “whole proposal is unwanted by traders..and is totally unnecessary.” The society also stated that they believe the proposed tensile roof is an “intrusive new structure” and would change the character of the market.

The board found that “the development would not seriously injure the amenities of the area or of property in the vicinity, would not conflict with the provisions of the Limerick City Development Plan, would be acceptable in terms of traffic safety and convenience and would be in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.”

It also looks as if there may finally be some movement on a possible boundary extension. I really hope the Minister makes a strong decision on this and pays no heed to those neanderthal’s out there who seem hell-bent on holding the city back!

Minister Gormley moves on Limerick city boundary

By Petula Martyn

THE Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, has said he will not be “steered in any particular direction by vested interests” when deciding whether or not to extend the boundary of Limerick city.
A white paper on the matter is due to be published in early March, and the minister has said he will be objective in coming to a decision.

“Let me say to you, that as far as I’m concerned, I’m going to do what is best for Limerick and what is best for the region,” he told the Limerick Leader.

Minister Gormley said a series of suggestions, including the idea of a single planning authority, have been put forward, and he admitted that some people will not be happy with his “optimal solution”.

“I’m in a position where I can act more objectively than previous ministers. Previous ministers were under political pressure. I am not going to allow that interfere with my judgement of things.”

Minister Gormley was the first Minister for the Environment in over fifty years to grant a limited extension of the boundary in March last year, to include Caherdavin, Coonagh and Moyross in the city.

“Eaten bread is quickly forgotten, you know,” the Minister said. “I did, unlike other previous ministers, give a boundary extension. It might have been limited but it had never been done. It was asked for, it was given and on that particular date county councillors said ‘this is it and no more’.”

There have, however, been further calls from city councillors across all parties, and the local business community to further extend the boundary to include the city environs.

A draft copy of the Limerick City Development Plan 2010-2016 describes the challenges that lie ahead in terms of developing the city centre.
“The demotion of the city centre in such a way is contrary to national, regional and local policy. It is evident that the role of the city centre in the national hierarchy is under serious threat and such a demotion of the importance of the city centre will impact negatively on the region’s competitiveness,” it states.

Minister Gormley advised all interested parties not to get “hung up” on any one particular option as a way to address the boundary issue.

“I’m into solving problems, I’m not into rigidities and that’s the only way it can be done,” he said, “because people need to be flexible in the way that they think.

“No matter what you do, you can’t please everybody and I’m expecting that some people will not be happy with what I’m suggesting, but never the less I do think that the proposal that is put forward will be in the best interest of the city.”

Limerick Leader

@dave123 wrote:

There is nothing spectacular about that building for the love of god.

The Cannoks building was impressive. There is little arctectural merit in that building other than its wihite. There are no striking features or anything authenitc about it.

No there was nothing authentic about a building that was a Limerick City landmark with 200 years of history behind it. We’re far better off with a legoland shopping street that has become obsolete after only 16 years!:rolleyes:

Do you ever get tired of talking shit?