National and international investors will be turning their attention on Galway, vying for the chance to get their hands on the Eyre Square Shopping Centre which is to go on sale in the coming weeks with a guide price of €22.5 million.
This prime retail investment includes the freehold of the entire centre, retail units occupied by New Look, JD Sports, and Penney’s, common area income, the ramps area which has full planning permission for redevelopment, and 19 Eyre Square.
Joint agents Lisa Finn of DTZ Sherry Fitzgerald and Simon Plunkett of DNG Commercial are quoting the guide price of €22.5 million for the controlling interest in the complex which is owned by Gerry Barrett’s Edward Holdings and is currently producing rents of more than €2 million a year. It is expected that there will be an immediate return of 8.6 per cent and the prospects of higher gains in rent due to the redevelopment plans at the Eyre Square entrance side of the complex.
Full planning permission has already been granted to replace the entrance off Eyre Square with a new three storey modern entrance building which will accommodate five new retail units and a cafe/restaurant with deck area at first floor level. A strong interest is expected in 19 Eyre Square; a former bank, this building is currently tenanted by Goodbody’s and DNG Commercial on the upper floors and city planners have granted permission for the ground floor to be used as a food outlet.
First opened in 1991 Eyre Square Shopping Centre attracts a footfall of approximately 185,000 visitors a week. According to the letting agents as there is a short supply of retail units a number of national and international retailers are seeking representation within Galway city and it is expected that Eyre Square Shopping Centre will be of major interest.
The last significant retail space sale in Galway city centre was in 2013 when Edward Square, previously owned by Gerry Barrett, went for more than €27 million, changing ownership to Signature Capital.
