€500 MILLION EXPANSION AT LIFFEY VALLEY TO CREATE 4000 NEW JOBS

Incorporating the existing centre, Liffey Valley Town Centre will comprise an additional 62,000 sq.m. mixed use extension which will include a 8,000 sq. m. Civic Square providing superb amenities for local residents and visitors to Liffey Valley including a multi-use Civic Centre, a Public Library, a FÁS office and a Citizens Advice Bureau.  The Civic element of the Town Centre will provide much needed facilities as well as additional retail space exclusively for use by local traders. “The Civic Square will form a focus for the community where they can avail of excellent facilities and enjoy dining, leisure, entertainment, outdoor and cultural events” says Denis O’Connell, Centre Manager, Liffey Valley Shopping Centre

The expansion will also include an additional 54,000 sq.m. of retail space including a large foodstore, 2 anchor department stores and 60 retail units. Additional parking will be provided by two new multi-storey carparks (one underground) which will have capacity for 2,100 spaces. “The provision of a food store will help enhance the Liffey Valley experience, finally providing the one vital retail element people have been waiting for this since we originally opened” says Larry Brennan, Retail Director, Savills Ireland.

It is estimated that the construction alone will provide in excess of 2,000 jobs and it is anticipated that the majority of the employment will be drawn from the local areas of Lucan, Palmerstown, Neilstown and Clondalkin. Once the expansion is completed by 2013 a further 2,000 employment opportunities will be created in Civic amenities, retail, cleaning and security. Currently, over 70% of the existing workforce in Liffey Valley comes from the surrounding areas.

Liffey Valley Town Centre is conveniently located on the N4 adjacent to the M50.  Major infrastructural improvements have already taken place making Liffey Valley more accessible and the removal of the M50 toll has created a more positive retail and leisure location. Public transport links will be further improved by the proposed Luas extension to Lucan in 2013 and the proposed Metro West to be completed in 2014.  These improvements, along with the new local bus service that will be operational before Liffey Valley Town Centre opens, will create a transport interchange at the new Civic Square in Liffey Valley Town Centre. 

The planning application is being lodged with South Dublin County Council in response to the Liffey Valley Local Area Plan which incorporates a Masterplan to guide the future development of Liffey Valley Town Centre.  Following a public consultation period, the planners and councillors of South Dublin County Council successfully adopted the Local Area Plan in March 2008. (See notes for further information).

Liffey Valley Shopping Centre was opened in 1998 and currently boasts 10 million shoppers per year with a catchment population of 1.86 million residents and with the new expansion will create a Town Centre with approximately 108,000 sq m of space, the retail element will be complimented with Civic Amenities, Residential and Office Accommodation.

For further information please contact:

Larry Brennan Director - Retail Division Savills Ireland 32 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 T: + 353 (0) 1 6181300 E: larry.brennan@savills.ie

Notes

• Barkhill Limited is a joint venture company between Grosvenor and O’Callaghan Properties.
• Grosvenor is a group of privately owned international property development, investment and fund businesses which manages assets of £12.9 billion.  The company’s origins lie in the central London landholding of the Grosvenor family dating back to 1677.  In addition to Liffey Valley, Grosvenor’s recent retail-led, mixed-use schemes include Liverpool One (Liverpool), Grand Arcade (Cambridge) and Festival Place (Basingstoke).
• O’Callaghan Properties is a Cork based property development company headed by Owen O’Callaghan.  The company has developed some of the most successful retail schemes in Ireland including Liffey Valley, Mahon Point, Merchants Quay, Paul Street Shopping Centre and Golden Island.  O’Callaghan Properties are currently developing a new retail street off Patrick Street in Cork. 

 

Liffey Valley phase 1 consists of 46,450 sq.m. of retail space, 3,500 car parking spaces and over 70 retail units.  70% of jobs in Liffey Valley phase 1 are held by people from Lucan, Palmerstown, Clondalkin and Neilstown.  Liffey Valley Phase 1 is owned by Grosvenor and Aviva Investors.

• Aviva Investors is the UK-based asset management business of Aviva plc. Firms within the Aviva group of companies manage £157bn (€198bn) from offices around the world as at 31 March 2008.  Aviva manages both institutional and retail funds. It also acts as investment manager for a range of retail investment funds. The property team manages in excess of £29bn (€37bn) of UK and European property assets.

 

Liffey Valley Local Area Plan:

“It is the policy of the Council to facilitate the development of the Liffey Valley
Centre at Quarryvale as a Town Centre and to ensure that the centre is
developed in accordance with a detailed Master Plan. The Masterplan shall
provide for the upgrading of the urban form of the Town Centre area to
provide for the development of new streets and civic spaces, and a range
of people intensive uses appropriate to a town centre, (including retail,
commercial, residential, recreational, community and cultural activities) based
on high quality urban design” - Liffey Valley Town Centre Local Area Plan Adopted on the 10th March 2008

Files:

Liffey-Valley-News-Press-Release06-09.doc1.8 M

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