A block of derelict buildings on Quay Street and Quay Lane are to be brought back to life as a high-end shop for Aran sweaters.
Following a series of revisions to the plans ordered by Galway City Council, permission was granted for the work at No 25 Quay Street and numbers 2 to 5 Quay Lane.
GlenAran Ltd, which is owned by the McCarthy family from Glengarriff in West Cork, bought the properties at the end of 2015 for a price which auctioneers said was “significantly in excess” of its €600,000 guide price.
The McCarthys submitted plans to the Council to restore and redevelop the former mill and residential buildings to use as “a high-end retail centre for the sale of GlenAran knitwear and woollen products”.
In their approval, planners said: “The proposed scheme offers several positive features most notably the proposal to restore and bring back into use a long vacant and derelict property in a prominent corner at the entrance to the pedestrianised heart of Galway City.”
Planners ordered that due to flood risk, all electrical fittings and sockets must be laced a minimum of 45cm above ground floor level; temporary barriers can be installed in the door openings when there is a flood warning and that all merchandise at risk can be removed from the ground floor area.
Details of an evacuation plan for the building must also be submitted to the Council.
An archaeologist must carry out testing at the site before any construction work can take place.
According to the application, the development will bring the derelict buildings back to life.
“Such development will provide a viable commercial use for the existing derelict buildings, which will attract new clientele, enhanced business footfall, and visitor attraction which will in turn improve the economic viability of the lower Quay Street/Quay Lane area of the city centre.
“The structure will be renovated in terms of best conservation practice using traditional skills and materials relevant to the late medieval period and early Victorian era, taking into account any significant findings arising out of the archaeological survey of the site.”
The Quay Lane buildings were built as a warehouse in the 17th Century, and altered to residential units in the 1830s.
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