THE LAST REMAINING tenants are due to be out of Ballymun Shopping Centre by this summer after which Dublin City Council plans to demolish it.
DCC bought Ballymun Shopping Centre in 2014 and had plans to relocate all of the existing businesses there before demolishing it.
The council had to enforce a Compulsory Purchase Order in order to vacate the remaining units in the shopping centre.
As things stand, the council says that the last tenant is expected to leave the building by this summer.
The council said that this will be followed by a Part 8 process to obtain permission to demolish the shopping centre.
Welcoming the news, Independent Ballymun councillor Noeleen O’Reilly said that the demolition represented an opportunity “to revitalise the town centre and bring more shops into Ballymun”.
“We have waited a long time for something to happen with the Ballymun Shopping Centre,” O’Reilly said.
“For the community the shopping centre represents everything that went wrong with the regeneration in the area.
“It was due to be the site for the much lauded Spring Cross Shopping centre with a €90 million investment into the area which never materialised.
Shortly after that plan went burst, Tesco pulled out of the area leaving very little retail in the area.
O’Reilly said that seeing “the old dilapidated centre” is reminder to people of how the economic regeneration of Ballymun had failed.
“The plans for this site should be developed without delay and prospective investors encouraged as soon as possible,” O’Reilly said.
“Lidl are due to start works on an adjacent site towards the end of the summer and I hope his can be the catalyst for further development in Ballymun.
People in the area deserve facilities which meet the needs of the community.
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