After fire and floods, one of Ireland's first shopping centres now up for sale at €21m

The twice re-invented Douglas Village Shopping Centre comes to market

Douglas Village Shopping Centre for sale as an investment in 2022 with a price guide of €21 million.

Ireland's second oldest shopping centre, in Cork’s Douglas village, is up for sale having a unique and varied history that includes being rebuilt in 2007, bouncing back from Covid-19 restrictions and a devastating car fire in its multi-storey car park three years ago.

Douglas Village Shopping Centre has been a key part of Cork’s suburban growth since 1971, when it followed Dublin’s then-pioneering Stillorgan Shopping Centre in changing the face of Ireland’s retail and supermarket market. 

The centre which is anchored by Tesco, M&S and TK Maxx carries a €21m price guide with agents Cushman & Wakefield and is being sold as an investment property. 

It has a rental income of €2.4m, and scope to boost that further by filling some units which have remained vacant since a major fire ripped through the 1,000-space multi-level car park in August 2019, forcing a 14-month closure for reconstruction.

The centre, with over 40 units on six prime acres, is one of two in the heart of Cork’s affluent suburb of Douglas, both developed by Clayton Love Jnr who also opened centres in Wilton and Blackpool.

First built in 1971 with outdoor malls, it was later covered over and sold but later bought back by the Love family’s Shipton Group and was completely redeveloped by them in 2007 at a then-reported cost of €80m when its car parking was put on top.

The area which was demolished in the Douglas Village shopping centre car park following the fire in 2019. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

A twist of fate on August 31, 2019, saw a car parked there burst into flames, engulfing much of the floor and levels above, destroying 50 cars and affecting 46 traders beneath at the time.

Damage was estimated at €30m, and a number of legal cases for damages and loss of trading income have been initiated in the Commercial Court against Opel as the Zafira model manufacturers and its distributors in Ireland after the model had a recall for safety reasons.

It came back to life late in 2020, with 32 businesses reopening, one more significant deal is at an advanced stage and several others are under active inquiry, said Peter O’Flynn, MD of Cushman & Wakefield Cork, selling with Karl Stewart, Retail Director of C&W. The duo are also currently handling the €75m sale of Debenhams in Dublin and St Patrick’s Street in Cork, with the landmark Cork ‘Roches Stores’ redevelopment opportunity guided at €20m.

“Douglas Village Shopping Centre plays a strong part in the history of suburban shopping centres in Ireland, was the first of its kind outside Dublin when originally developed by the Love family and has played an important part in the ongoing expansion of the southside of Cork City,” said Mr Flynn. 

“Having been redeveloped in 2007 with a more recent refit, it is in excellent condition throughout and will provide new owners with a significant opportunity to acquire a high yielding asset, with further financial returns going forward,” he added.

People watch the cars being lifted from the car park at Douglas Village Shopping Centre after the fire in 2019. Picture: Dan Linehan

That 2007 redevelopment saw a new road created alongside, linking the front and back village and the N40, 3.5kms south of the city centre with an enormous catchment area spanning Douglas, Rochestown, Ballinlough, Grange, Frankfield, Blackrock and Carrigaline.

Occupiers include the City Library and Dennehy's Gym on upper levels, Tesco have 60,000 sq ft at ground and 30,000 sq ft overhead in a unit they own themselves, and other key anchors are M&S, who arrived in 2010, as well as TK Maxx, Petstop, Eurogiant and Bank of Ireland, with a thriving Farmers Market outside on the plaza every Saturday – a reminder of the 1970’s days of outdoor malls in this historic, and twice re-invented, suburban shopping centre.