shopping center ferrybank???

sumthng2say10

does anybody know if the shopping center in ferrybank is ever going to open? its been built for ages what a waste

wmpdd3

Latest news I have is Dunnes are due to open in 12 weeks time. I still won't believe it till I see it.

That came from a rep from another supermarket.

wobbles

i think dunnes would be great in there, provided there was free parking. If they were to charge then i simple wouldnt go, as theres alternetives with free parking. We often find ourselves going to aldi out there as its less hassle than parking at the one in town.

JohnC.

wmpdd3 wrote: »

Latest news I have is Dunnes are due to open in 12 weeks time. I still won't believe it till I see it.

That came from a rep from another supermarket.

I also heard they had been laying their floor in there. If there's only 12 weeks, I'd imagine recruitment notices won't be too far off, which would confirm it.

sumthng2say10

yea hopefully it will open because it would create a lot of jobs that are needed!! also it looks like a brilliant shopping center from the outside anyways i can see a lot of potential better than city square i reckon! lol.

Sully

Haven't seen any activity their recently. Kinda hard for Dunnes to open with nothing else there.

I think Aquos lives near - he may have a better idea of activity levels!

homolumo

this would be great news and I would be more inclined to do grocery shopping
in Dunnes as it would be handier than the city centre one.jkmn

Junior

Is there not a court case pending ?

thomasm

Definetly more activity inside recently but I would imagine if they were opening in 12 weeks we would have heard more about it by now.

lulut

From Sunday Business Post 20/6/2010

...[T]enant difficulties are rumoured to have plagued Deerland Construction's Ferrybank Shopping Centre at Abbeylands in Waterford.
The €120 million mixed-use centre, built by John Paul Con­struction and designed by Oppermann Associates, is set on a seven-acre site, within one mile of the Rice Memorial Bridge off the N25.
Although construction is al­most fully complete, its open­ing has been delayed. A source has confirmed to the Sunday Business Post that "realisti­cally, the centre will not open this year".
He said there had been a de­lay in securing an anchor te­nant and that it would be the mid-point of next year before the scheme would open.
The complex comprises 30,000 square metres of retail and commercial space over a two-storey basement with parking for 1.200 cars. It is the largest shopping centre scheme in Waterford.
Attempts to contact Deer-land Construction last week were unsuccessful.

Aquos76

Sully wrote: »

Haven't seen any activity their recently. Kinda hard for Dunnes to open with nothing else there.

I think Aquos lives near - he may have a better idea of activity levels!

Havnt been down that way in a while however I'll take a stroll down tomorrow evening and see if I can see any signs of a shop fit out or something

Hells Belle

I was outside it yesterday and tbh it looks the same as it did a few months ago - ie no change. The outside is finished but the inside is very bare from what I could see. There weren't any workers milling around and that was at 4pm.

wellboytoo

Heres my tuppence halpenny worth,
It will never open and in a few years time we will see some if not all of it being demolished. It is too big always was too big , when Waterford City Council and the Chamber objected to it on the basis that it was to big, it was ignored by KK planners , just a greedy grab at rates, but now we have the worst of all worlds a huge (nice) building in the wrong place,wait till the vandalism starts as always does with empty buildings .

abouttobebanned

That's the most expensive tuppence hapenny I've ever seen.

wellboytoo

lol , yes it is but watch this space,

dermo909

I fear he's right though. I'm amazed that it has'nt started looking like the ard ri yet......

abouttobebanned

I think it makes more sense to fill the place up with shops/supermarket at a negotiable rent rate. Anything has to be better than an empty unit that size.

RoyMcC

Hi guys, is this Ross Abbey Shopping Centre, up beyond Ard Glas? During my short spell in Waterford last year I used to imagine the owner of the minimarket across the road smiling every morning as he opened up

Hells Belle

RoyMcC wrote: »

Hi guys, is this Ross Abbey Shopping Centre, up beyond Ard Glas? During my short spell in Waterford last year I used to imagine the owner of the minimarket across the road smiling every morning as he opened up

No, its the big one across from the Boy's School in Ferrybank. The one up by Abbey Park is deserted, I'd be very amazed if it wasn't a namashack :rolleyes:

wellboytoo

The problem with NAMA doing deals with property for very small rents, is it depress's further the rental market and creates another crash! Same if they try to sell off properties at a massive discount, it crash's the market, it is set up as a bank for these assets, and let the market stabilise, and release them slowly over a long time , so as not to unstabilise what is a very fragile, if non existent market.

Road-Hog

wellboytoo wrote: »

The problem with NAMA doing deals with property for very small rents, is it depress's further the rental market and creates another crash! Same if they try to sell off properties at a massive discount, it crash's the market, it is set up as a bank for these assets, and let the market stabilise, and release them slowly over a long time , so as not to unstabilise what is a very fragile, if non existent market.

Just as we were told that the market woudl eventually sort out the house price inflation in the period 1994 to 2007.......market forces would come into play and when supply equalled demand for houses prices would flatten out and everything woudl be honky dory.......we all know what happened with the Fianna Failure mantra......!

wellboytoo

Road-Hog wrote: »

Just as we were told that the market woudl eventually sort out the house price inflation in the period 1994 to 2007.......market forces would come into play and when supply equalled demand for houses prices would flatten out and everything woudl be honky dory.......we all know what happened with the Fianna Failure mantra......!

No nothing at all to do with it,it was not a political statement I was making, but an economic one,try keep your prejudices in check!

dayshah

wellboytoo wrote: »

The problem with NAMA doing deals with property for very small rents, is it depress's further the rental market and creates another crash! Same if they try to sell off properties at a massive discount, it crash's the market, it is set up as a bank for these assets, and let the market stabilise, and release them slowly over a long time , so as not to unstabilise what is a very fragile, if non existent market.

Low rents are bad for landlords and good for everyone else in the city.

wellboytoo

dayshah wrote: »

Low rents are bad for landlords and good for everyone else in the city.

Agreed , and it was out of control totally, but it has to reach a level that everyone can live with tenants and landlords alike, if not we will never get out of the deep dodo we are all in at the moment.

Manic087

I live in Bellfield behind the shopping centre and I don't think anything has been done to it in a while. Now I'm not always in and around there for different reasons but I think there's just security around there at the moment. What I had heard was that Dunnes were supposed to move in there but were waiting for some of the other lots in the place to be taken up and they wouldn't take residency there until that was done. If that's the case I'm doubting there'll be any movement for a while yet.

As I said I'm not sure and some of that is on hearsay so if I'm wrong I hold my hands up and apologise!!

wmpdd3

This came up in another thread and I hadn't seen this piece from the Irish Times in 2009.

So much has changed, you'd wonder will it ever be opened:

http://www.independent.ie/business/commercial-property/jobs-boost-as-shopping-centres-are-on-track-to-open-this-year-1684801.html

In Waterford the €120m Ferrybank Shopping Centre is on target to open later this year, creating 500 jobs when fully let.

Providing a welcome boost for the area, developer, Deerland Properties -- headed by Derry McPhillips -- has confirmed October 28 as the opening date for the new shopping centre.

The centre is being located on a 12 acre site with over 250 meters of national primary road frontage onto the N25 New Ross Road.

No longer on the N25, its on the R711!


Ferrybank is an emerging town with a rapidly growing residential population. The plans for Ferrybank indicate a town population of 20,000 people within the next eight years, combined with further larger catchment populations within 20 minutes drive time.

I think the current population is 4,000.

Access

Ferrybank Centre is within a one mile distance of the Rice Memorial Bridge which is the main point of access to Waterford City and County.

Well thats still true.

Designed by leading architects Opperman & Associates, it will feature 23 retail units, anchored by a large Dunnes Stores department store, with car-parking capacity in excess of 1,100 car spaces.

Dunnes Stores signed contracts for the anchor unit in 2007 and will provide a 7,000sqm department store offering a full range of fresh food, homeware and fashion.

As far as I know, they never had planning permission for clothing and homeware, but that never stopped anyone.

Tesco has enjoyed a dominant trading position in this area for many years. So the arrival of Dunnes will mark a significant local milestone.

Negotiations are under way with retailers on the balance of the district centre tenant units, agent CB Richard Ellis reports.

CBRE director Cormac Kennedy says that interest is strong, given that it will be one of the few schemes in Ireland opening in 2009, and will be the only significant scheme to open in this general area in the last decade.

Meantime, there are opportunities for various retailers including fashion, coffee shops, and newsagents etc. Rents range from €484 to €670 per sqm.

€500,000 for a 1000 sq/ft shop for a year!

.

- CON POWER

romulus augustulus

wellboytoo wrote: »

Agreed , and it was out of control totally, but it has to reach a level that everyone can live with tenants and landlords alike, if not we will never get out of the deep dodo we are all in at the moment.

My tuppence worth is that Wellboytoo's point is a good one and we have to have a slow and managed retreat in rents or we will only deepen the property slump(if that's possible).

What I'd also like to know , though , is how F/bank would cope with the traffic if it ever opens ? There is no way that roundabout could cope with heavy traffic entering/leaving the shopping centre ,even with the small reduction in traffic due to the new bridge . I try to give our esteemed elected representatives the benefit of the doubt when I can , but that shopping centre was madness on traffic levels alone . Could you imagine the traffic chaos leading up to Christmas with effectively only one exit onto Belmont Road ?

wmpdd3

Agree completely, when you think of the entrance to McDonagh and The Showgrounds. The R711 is still as busy as the N25 ever was.

Wouldn't like to be living in the housing estate behind it if it did open with decent shops.

Smile12

has anyone heard anything more about jobs for the shopping center because its suppose be open in april?

Sully

I was told over the weekend Dunnes have gone back to court so they wont be there, but the Library is being opened as planned?!

Smile12

how do you find out what shops are goin to be in it.. so you can apply beforehand?

Sully

Smile12 wrote: »

how do you find out what shops are goin to be in it.. so you can apply beforehand?

No idea, bar keeping an eye in local newspapers I guess. I was unaware of any shops going into it.

RobitTV

There's no point having dunnes anyway to be honest. Id much rather Marks and spencers or a other store that is popular.

But marks and spencers is getting unlikely

Professey Chin

RobitTV wrote: »

There's no point having dunnes anyway to be honest. Id much rather Marks and spencers or a other store that is popular.

But marks and spencers is getting unlikely

Didnt think M&S were ever even on the table

abouttobebanned

Why are people even talking about M&S?

Kina

An Entertainments/ Leisure facility there would be great. Like a cinema, a food court, bowling, a gym facility.

wellboytoo

Did you hear the one about the Three bears? Once upon a time there was Three bears Daddy bear Mammy bear........ Not going to happen in
the next five if not ten years

BBM77

Jesus, I can’t believe anybody thinks this place is going to open. As has been said before it is financially unviable not to mention the fact that it was built on the assumption that the population in the Ferrybank suburb was going to grow to 10 to 15 thousand. Dunnes does not want to open in there and M&S are at the wrong end of the market for Ferrybank.

wmpdd3

i think its going to be a lovely great library in a massive building.

abouttobebanned

I hear golden discs are taking over the whole building.

wellboytoo

A very large shop selling a huge range of albino elephants is also rumoured

Nypd

It's going to be a giant joke shop, selling pictures of the clowns that gave it the thumbs up.

wellboytoo

http://www.daft.ie/searchcommercial.daft?id=113024

Would someone buy this even at such a knockdown price with the threat of the Ferrybank centre hanging over it?

Dicky Pride

No, but that would be nothing to do with Ferrybank. I think we both know that nothing is going to happen to that in our lifetime...

Deise Vu

wellboytoo wrote: »

http://www.daft.ie/searchcommercial.daft?id=113024

Would someone buy this even at such a knockdown price with the threat of the Ferrybank centre hanging over it?

€575K to buy 54,000 sq ft and probably open to offers about €10 per sq ft. According to earlier posts a 1,000 sq ft unit was supposed to rent for roughly €50K per annum in the Ferrybank Shopping Centre.

That is what you call recalibrating expectations.

Mr Tibbs

I was over in a place next door to this pink elephant that is doing a lot more business, the graveyard. You'll never hear Johnny Thomson complain his business is dying.

wellboytoo

Dicky Pride wrote: »

No, but that would be nothing to do with Ferrybank. I think we both know that nothing is going to happen to that in our lifetime...

You mean nothing is going to happen to either!