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Artist’s impressions of the proposed Horizon Mall. Casey Communications
Casey Communications
A REVAMP OF the Parkway Valley shopping centre site in Limerick, which was mothballed after the property crash of 2007, is set to undergo a €100 million redevelopment which investors say could create up to 2,000 jobs.
The site is located on the main Dublin to Limerick road and is only partially completed. Proposals now submitted to Limerick City and County Council by Northern Ireland-based developer Suneil Sharma seeks to resurrect the project under the name Horizon Mall.
The plan reduces the scale of the the original redevelopment with Sharma saying that Marks and Spencer has already agreed to come on board to take 100,000 sq.ft of retail space and create their largest store outside of Dublin.
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“We are involved in very positive discussions with other major retail brands and will be making further announcements about this in the weeks and months ahead,” he said.
Sharma is a property developer who is managing director of management, development and investment company of Varsity Estates limited. He was also heavily involved in lobbying for the Race Relations Act into Northern Ireland.
The existing unfinished Parkway site.
The new Horizon Mall will also comprise 1,575 car parking spaces, a crèche and a playground on lands adjoining the project.
Planners estimate that Horizon Mall will generate in excess of €35 million of net disposal income into the city and local economy.
It is envisaged that the shopping centre will specifically support local jobs by way of an employment scheme similar to that trialled by FÁS prior to the establishment of Mahon Point Shopping Centre in Corlwhich targeted the long-term unemployed.
General location of the development before the original unfinished construction took place. Google maps
Google maps
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The over supply of shopping centres in limerick not only has killed the city but has affected every provincial town within a 40 mile radius of the area.
Ask any retailer!!
They’re still not willing to do anything about Limerick city… You want to do your weekly shopping in the city, finding parking is nightmare number one and paying for it is nightmare number two neither problem exists in the crescent, parkway or jetland! LCC are sitting on their hands about this issue because the fines and charges are a cash cow, essentially free money for the council!
Thanks for pointing out that they Parkway Shopping Centre and the Parkway Valley site are different. (*Holds hands up*)
They are down the road from each other and the developer was referring to the valley site ‘the former Parkway Shopping Centre’, both contributed to the/my confusion. Hope it’s all clearer now.
The same jobs could be created in the city centre between redevelopment and long term retail jobs if the same money was invested there. These huge shopping centers on the outskirts of the city are killing the city centre slowly. I’d argue that a vibrant city centre would be much more beneficial to the long term growth of the city than these developments.
Problem is these big retail outlets like marks & Spencer’s don’t want to go into the city centre, the main Dublin, cork and tipp roads are all in spitting distance of the new park way valley site
Noel and Colin are right in my opinion. All over Ireland the greed of developers has allowed relatively cheap sites on the edges of cities and towns to bleed the vitality out of city and town centres. I’m betting that this “opportunity” is another bonanza for a developer at the expense of Limerick City centre.
2000 jobs but will they be new jobs or replacing jobs lost at the parkway shopping centre the children’s rd shopping area or indeed the shopping area right next to this proposed development? In that area there is already two Dunnes and an aldi argos Heatons Easons Lifestyle Smyths toystore plus the big electric names and TK Maxx . In fact a huge number of big names. Apart from Mark and Spencer’s you have to wonder who will go in there. It’s a pity the city centre is so anti shopper as I used to love trips into town. Now it’s only ever on a must need basis.
Limerick city centre has been wrecked by these. I read a few years ago that Limerick has half the out of town retail space that Dublin has, for a tenth the population.
The ring road by the parkway is a traffic nightmare and the free flow of traffic is ruined by people queueing to turn into shopping centres.
You have to consider the regional population though. These developments serve the wider Midwest including Clare, Tipperary and County Limerick as much or more than the city. Their adverse effect on the city centre is real but very much overstated.
How can you say it is overstated? Have you walked through the city centre in Limerick recently? It is dead quiet the majority of the time, the amount of vacant shop spaces is terrible for the city and parking is a nightmare! LCC need to pull the finger out, making parking more available and affordable in the city centre and push through the Opera development. The parkway development should be stopped.
Decisions that council made over the years only confirms their in no rush to do anything. The city centre is deserted because of parking fees. I paid 6 euro one occasion for an hour and a half. Never again. And it was a council owned car park. No parking fees in the crescent shopping centre or Childers road of parkway and thats why they are always full. No sympathy for city centre. Their one goal is to screw people.
John, the solution to the city centre’s problems is to attract people to live in it. At the moment, Limerick’s population is largely suburban and that has to change if the city centre is to be vibrant again. Thankfully, we’re going in the right direction and more and more people have been choosing to live in the city centre in the last few years. While these out of town shopping centres do have some adverse effect on the city centre, it’s generally overstated and not the root cause of city centre decline.
The derelict site which was due to become a shopping centre was called parkway valley. The parkway shopping centre is not derelict and is very much open for business.
The city centre is gone past saving thanks to the complete ineptitude of LCC. It’s all good making expensive boardwalks and pedestrianised streets, but all that has done is give people a nice place to walk through what is becoming a real life ghost town. Not to mention over zealous traffic wardens and an increase in dirty scobes roaming the place and you’d be mad to question why anybody would want to go in there.
It’s as simple as this – I can go to Limerick City, park my car on a street with the risk of getting a ticket (or getting it broken in to) and walk ages for a poor selection of shops or I can go somewhere like the Crescent SC, park for free, and have a huge selection of shops all located in doors in comfort. It’s a no brainer why people would choose these retails centres over the city.
The city centre has improved dramatically in the last few years. There’s a lot to do still but your view is incredibly negative. Having lived in other Irish cities, my favourite is Limerick. It offers far more than most people realise, and it’s time Limerick folk stopped apologising for the place.
Limerick is a small town that is extremely economically depressed. Another shopping centre is not needed.
The only thing that will be in it once it is built, is mobile phone shops, 2Euro stores and an Aldi anyway. You have to cater to the socioeconomic situation of the town, and that is all the average joe there can afford.
There is a city charter for Limerick that is far older than new York. The size is not what makes a city.
Have you ever been in the crescent shopping centre? It’s as busy as anything in Dublin and people travel from all the adjoining counties to shop there.
On 1 point steve is right ,in ireland be be a city there must be 50,000 people within the city boundaries but there is not in limerick but when raheen and castletroy and others are throw into the mix the general area is very much a city , anyway beside all that this is the 3rd location I have heard for m and s , the 1st was were the Omniplex is that was to be demolished and rebuild the cinema in the back of the expanded car park ,the 2nd was the city centre buts it so dead in there now it’s certainly not viable as far as m and s would be concerned , this location for it is probably just going to mean a extra band of traffic to the area (which is not helped by the narrowing of the roads at groody roundabout) but it won’t make a massive difference to the area as people will eventually get sick of the volume of traffic at the parkway and groody roundabouts
@steve Nobody is saying Limerick is a global city like you’ve described such as New York, London, Tokyo, Paris or Singapore, you’ll find there are far more cities in the world that don’t fall into that category than do! Use your head, Limerick is a city on an Irish scale.
Colm, the population of Limerick City is about 100,000. The suburbs you mentioned are now officially part of the city. But even without those, the population is greater than 50,000.
I work in Limerick City Monday to Friday. I’m astonished on a daily basis since starting back at work how much Limerick has changed for the better. The city is turning itself around. Bit by bit. Not due to big developers but SMEs taking a leap of faith and opening up shops and restaurants and cafés. It’s an organic, authentic re growth. The city looks good, people are taking pride in their premises and streets. There is definitely a sense of optimism and hard graft going on. It’s certainly more alive and a much happier place than it has been for the last few years.
Ya but the fact of the matter is that a street full of coffee shops and pound shops doesn’t make for a very attractive city and will not attract footfall. They are all there on short term leasehold contracts so really do nothing to ensure the long term viability of the city. A M&S in the city centre would have had the drastic effect that is desperately needed.
Well said Patrick. Its full of cheap and not so cheap coffee shops. very little else. Living there all my life and never go near the city centre. Waste of time.
City Centre has improved marginally over the last few years but there is still lots of improvements. The debacle about Marks coming to Limerick has been ongoing since I was young. I’m rather surprised that they have decided to go ahead with this as their sales aren’t doing very well in general, let alone the Irish market…even their food has taken a hit in recent years. Douglas in Cork seems to have completely flopped for them too, they do much better in Dublin anyway,
*Lots of improvements to be made even….they really need to stop all these out of town shops to try and get people back into the city. Tons of carparks but no incentive to actually shop in there otherwise.
I don’t think there’s any official word from M&S and it’s more than likely the developer just trying to win public and official support for his development (there’s a hysterical obsession about M&S in Limerick). The same developer said he had M&S lined up for his ill-fated ‘Opera Centre’ project on Patrick Street, but it was never confirmed by the retailer.
Last Monday I drove from the Ardnacrusha side of Limerick straight up through the centre of the city, I have seen more life at 04.00am there. Friday and Sunday evenings are the same! (Unless the students are back or a big match at the Garlinge Ground /Thomson Park.)
I rarely ever go into the city center anymore, it’s depressing with all the closed down shops, plus there’s never anywhere to park. Like a lot of others I do just go to the Crescent. I do enjoy the city center around Christmas though…
Are they gone soft in the head? Theres two EMPTY shopping centres, one where Wickes used to be and another on the other side of the roundabout near B and Q, and the city centre devoid of shops, did they eat a bowl of stupid for breakfast? They have the city ruined.
Mad Mary.
you will never get the likes of m&s,dunnes,tesco and so on into town centres anymore.no parking,no room for deliveries and numerous other reasons see to this and the problem is that the other chain stores follow the large retails to get the footfall so unless these out of town developments are restricted in some way as to thier size or number of particular units within the development then the trend of town centres dying will never change
What about the morons in City Hall which have given planning permission for over 20 restaurants & coffee shops on OConnell street !! No wonder the city centre is devoid of shoppers – there are hardly any fcuking shops there!!
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