Billion euro price tag

Blanchardstown Centre is to be put on sale over the coming weeks with an expected price tag of €1 billion.

Often described as a retail Mecca, Ireland’s biggest shopping complex has been pivotal in Blanchardstown’s rapid transformation from a rural village into one of the country’s largest urban hubs.

Plans for the centre were first mooted in the 1972 Dublin City Development Plan and Green Property Limited developed it from a vast greenfield site.

The main retail component of Blanchardstown Centre opened in 1996 and it was further expanded in 2004 to create extra retail space. Now covering 85 acres, the complex has over 150 shops, including 20 restaurants and food outlets as well as two retail parks and a multiplex cinema.

Covering a massive 1.2 million sq ft of space it has managed to attract major anchor tenants including Debenhams, Dunnes Stores, Marks & Spencer and Penneys.

Blanchardstown Centre is also home to the office headquarters of eBay, Liberty Insurance and Fingal County Council and provides jobs to an estimated 1,300 staff.

As one of the country’s officially designated Major Town Centres, Blanchardstown Centre is earmarked for future retail expansion and has development capacity for another 1.6 million sq ft of retail, office, leisure and 600 apartments under a masterplan for the site.

Sale of the centre will be handled by joint agents JLL and Eastdil Secured and it’s likely to attract attention from large international investment groups, big pension funds and sovereign wealth funds.

The centre is described as a “unique asset” by Stephen Vernon, Green Property’s chairman,

“I believe now is the optimal time to transition to new ownership to take advantage of its development potential and capitalise on the recovery phase of the consumer cycle,” he said.

First round bids for the centre are expected in mid-March.