The City Council has given the green light for a €20 million extension to the Gateway Retail Park in Knocknacarra – which will include new retail units, gym, offices, restaurant and creche.
The new owners of the shopping centre have been given the go-ahead for the development of Phase 2 on the 3.8-acre ‘hole in the ground’ beside Dunnes Stores.
Targeted Investment Opportunities ICAV (a joint venture between investment funds managed by Oaktree Capital, the Westmeath-based Bennett Group and NAMA) abandoned previously drawn-up plans for Phase 2, which included a primary healthcare facility, which they say is not viable.
The building will be a total of just under 12,000 square metres and will include six retail units, a creche with external play area, café/restaurant, and a first floor gym with offices. Planners have ordered that the creche must include a drop-in facility for shoppers at the centre.
There will also be a new pedestrian link created running through the site, connecting it to Bóthar Stiofáin. The plans also include 129 basement parking spaces, 22 surface spaces and 116 bicycle spaces.
Meanwhile, Phase 3 – which has not yet been designed in detail – is likely to include space for a farmers’ market, a cinema and student accommodation.
Approving Phase 2, planners ordered that the developer must construct a pedestrian crossing from the eastern edge of the site to the pathway alongside the new gaelscoil which is nearing completion.
A financial contribution of more than €712,000 must also be made to the Council towards the cost of provision of public services in the area. They also ordered that the developers must pay €20,000 towards the provision of a pedestrian crossing to Bóthar Stiofáin and cycling facilities on the adjoining road network.
For more on the Gateway development plans, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. Buy a digital edition of this week’s paper here, or download the app for Android or iPhone.
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