TK Maxx has agreed to rent a store at Liffey Valley Shopping Centre in west Dublin at a rent of about €475,000 a year for a 2,775sq m (29,870sq ft) unit.
Colliers International, which has acted for the US multiple on many occasions in the past, refused to comment when asked about a possible letting. Hines, asset manager for the centre, would not comment either.
However, TK Maxx is likely to open a store in a three-storey unit at the western end part of the shopping centre. This part of the centre will also include two external food and beverage units trading onto an external plaza and a smaller retail unit opposite Penneys.
Full planning permission was granted in early 2017 but the Liffey Valley owners have recently sought a small variation to this with a decision expected in early March.
New facility
Construction of the new facility could start in the second quarter of 2019 with a view to completion by the second quarter of 2020.
Given the trader’s huge customer pulling-power (its presence is often hailed as a game-changer for retail centres), it is likely to have negotiated attractive leasing terms.
This will be TK Maxx's 27th shop in the Republic of Ireland and its seventh in the Dublin region after units in Blanchardstown, Swords, Carrickmines, Dundrum and the Ilac and St Stephen's Green centres.
It first entered the Irish market more than 20 years ago and is also thought to be running the rule over two other possible Irish locations at the moment. In particular, the retailer is thought to be eying up a 3,716sq m (40,000sq ft) store at Carlow Retail Park which was acquired for €16.75 million in an off-market sale to Friends First last year.
The company stocks a wide selection of designer labels and high street brands at discounts of up to 60 per cent of the original cost.
ItTK Maxx will join other high-profile retailers at Liffey Valley Shopping Centre including Marks & Spencer, Penneys, Dunnes Stores, Stradivarius, Bershka Stores and Boots among many others among others.
Located at Junction 7 off the M50, Liffey Valley has about 57,100sq m (614,612sq ft) of space, 3,000 surface car-parking spaces and is beside the smaller Liffey Valley Retail Park.
Germany’s largest public pensions group, Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK), acquired Liffey Valley Shopping Centre and seven hectares of adjacent development land for more than €630 million in 2016.
Meanwhile, TK Maxx’s sister store, Homesense, is also understood to be considering up to five new stores in Ireland after its first homewaresoutlets opened in 2017 at Westend Shopping Park in Blanchardstown and at the Capitol development on Cork’s Grand Parade.
Strong recovery
The Irish homeware and furniture sales market has recovered strongly since the economic crash.
