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| (All Renderings from the Sligo City Centre website) |
Sligo is a town in the Northern part of the Republic of Ireland that dates back to the early 13th century. It is a popular tourist attraction and although its population is just under 20,000 people, it is purported to have the top retail spend in North West Ireland which is supported by two peak selling seasons; Christmas and Summer.
Sligo Town Centre, is a $110 million project at the heart of Sligo, with the intent of redeveloping the Sligo city centre. The development, originally proposed in 1999 will finally move forward with the signing of Debenhams department store who will join Penney’s (Primark, not JC), Dunnes Stores and Tesco as the anchors for the project. An additional 26 retailers will also be part of the project as well as prime office space, 20+ apartments, and a parking garage that can accommodate 900+ cars. The nearly 400,000 sf mixed-use project will dedicate 260,000 to retail. Construction is expected to start late this year and be completed by 2013. For a brochure provided by Treasury Holdings, the developer of the project, click here.
The announcement of this project continues the momentum enjoyed by other reports in the neighboring UK as well as other restarts of projects that have been long put on hold.
Here is a list of articles for more information on this project and others in the region:
Recommended Sligo Reading (mouse over for more information):
![Touring Ireland: See Dublin, The Ring of Kerry, Killarney National Park, The Rose of Tralee, Cork, Wexford, Galway, Connemara, The Aran Island, Donegal, and Sligo [VHS]](http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=6302139872&tag=allthinreta09-20)
Debenhams and Tesco are two very large UK companies, so once again we could see the demise of the small indigenous family run retail outlets in the original 'town centre', this has happened previously in Ireland, as in the UK, in many other small towns, our main streets are becoming ghost like while the large UK retailers have turned our shopping experience into being exactly the same as our UK cousins. If I visit Sligo I would rather visit and shop in the lovely old main street.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Kerry. Visiting many of those quaint Sligo-like towns in the past certainly made me ponder if these types of redevelopments are benefiting or detracting from the town centre. I have seen it done well - but the indigenous retailers have to be included in the plan. If you are in the area - keep me posted on progress.
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