New retailers showing interest in 'Pana' as vacant units start to fill
The former Quills store, now vacant, on St Patrick's Street, Cork City Picture: Larry Cummins
AS a number of strong brands set up shop in a key block of Cork City’s main shopping street, moves are afoot also to restore retail to areas that have a proliferation of vacant units.
They include Quills at 106-107 St Patrick’s Street, vacant since 2014, and the former Dorothy Perkins/Evans store at No 101, vacant since 2019.
Quills is near the former Savoy shopping mall, on a stretch of the main street where a number of high- profile outlets have shut up shop, including up-for-sale flagship department store Debenhams (formerly Roches Stores), closed since April 2020 and on the market for €20m with “good interest” according to Peter O’Flynn of Cushman & Wakefield; and Eason, who have downsized to No 36 St Patrick’s Street, vacating their premises of 36 years, at Nos 113-115.
The Eason property, opposite Debenhams, was bought in 2020 for c€6.5m by Sports Direct/Fraser Group, who have plans to open a Flannels fashion store across its three floors by Easter next year. House of Fraser is also set to open a new store shortly on the lower mall of Mahon Point Shopping Centre, beneath a large Sports Direct outlet on the upper mall.
The two will replace Debenhams which, like its sister store on St Patrick’s Street, closed during the pandemic.
Quills, bought for c€2m in 2015 by the owners of the adjoining Savoy, the Clarendon Group, was expanded on foot of planning permission last year, as it had secured a tenant who required a larger unit (as cited in the planning application).
However, that tenant fell through, and the larger unit, which absorbed a barber’s shop, a juice shop, and a travel agents, has now come up to let for €300,000 pa via Savills.
The premises includes a 4,400 sq ft ground floor and a c1,000 sq ft mezzanine storage area.
Agent Lia Dennehy said it is suitable “for any kind of retail” except perhaps food and beverage, due to Cork City Council restrictions.
“There’s excellent space and shop frontage and the profile of the building [on the corner opposite Dunnes Stores] is second to none,” said Ms Dennehy. “I’d like to think there’ll be a good bit of interest.” The premises is near JD Sports which expanded its Savoy store onto St Patrick’s Street in 2019, where it took over an empty unit which, for many years, had been home to women’s fashion brand A-Wear.
Further down St Patrick Street, at No 42, Ms Dennehy and colleague Peter O’Meara are also handling the letting of newsagents Porter, where the lease for the 628 sq ft ground floor is €90,000 pa.
The three overhead floors, all of which had been let separately, each measuring c550 sq ft, are currently vacant and available to let and have their own entrance off Marlboro Street. Ms Dennehy said the option is there to lease the entire building.
Next door, an investor is understood to be looking at the Holland and Barrett store, at Nos 43/44. The double unit, owned by Aviva, came to market last year with Isobel O’Regan of Savills, with a €3m price guide.
Interest is also being shown in the former Oasis premises at the top of Princes Street, which has been trading as a reduced-price clothing store since Oasis went into administration in 2020.
The former Dorothy Perkins/Evans clothing store is also about to come up to let with joint agents Savills and Bannon Commercial, featuring a rent of €230,000 pa.
The four-storey building has been empty since 2019, following the collapse of Philip Green’s Arcadia group, which included Evans-Wallis and Topshop-Miss Selfridge.
The building is just over 6,000 sq ft, including 3,200 sq ft on the ground floor; 2,200 sq ft on the first floor, and much smaller attic-type spaces on the third and fourth floors of 200 sq ft and 230 sq ft, respectively.
The drive to fill these premises comes as momentum is building about the future of the main street, with an uplift in fortunes for an entire block, Nos 36-41, which had suffered from vacant units.
New retail blood is due to arrive soon in the form of British footwear brand Dune and outdoor clothing and equipment specialists North Face, who will join the relocated Eason, as well as Pandora jewellers and Permanent TSB on the same block.
Ms Dennehy, who attended a recent retail conference in London, said “a lot has been happening in the background” in relation to improving the retail offering on St Patrick’s Street.
She said that the sentiment in the market was changing, and she would expect to see much more activity in the city centre in a year’s time.
“There’s a lot of positive interest in Cork from retailers and a lot are seeking space in the market,” she said.
For more information on Quills, contact Lia Dennehy/Peter O’Meara at Savills.
Tel: 0214906122/0214906114 Email: lia.dennehy@savills.ie or peter.omeara@savills.ie
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