The previous Dunnes Shops premises on Bridge Road in Tralee city centre has been bought to an unidentified purchaser.
eal property brokers Property Companions Daly Ó Sé have confirmed that the sale of the lengthy vacant property has been agreed.
Neither the worth or the id of the customer have been revealed as but.
As soon as one of many city centre’s busiest retailers the landmark city centre property has now been vacant for effectively over a decade.
Lately a number of retail chains – together with Danish furnishings chain Jysk who finally opened an outlet at Manor West Retail Park – had held talks with the Irish grocery store chain with a view to renting the intensive city centre retail unit.
Dunnes Shops had beforehand come beneath heavy criticism over its possession of huge vacant premises in key areas in cities and cities across the nation.
The vacant Tralee unit was raised throughout a Seanad debate on the necessity to reform Eire’s industrial charges in early 2017.
Clare-based Senator Martin Conway particularly cited the previous Dunnes Shops outlet on Bridge Road for instance and mentioned, in such circumstances, the homeowners of such models had no incentive to see them occupied.
Senator Conway mentioned that in some circumstances, homeowners would actively search to maintain the premises empty in a bid to minimize or forestall competitors.
“The existence of this vacant unit within the centre of Tralee is choking improvement within the space. It’s honest and affordable to count on a profitable firm like Dunnes Shops to make a contribution in the direction of the charges invoice for what I might describe as a derelict website,” he mentioned on the time.
In March 2019 March a number of Tralee Municipal District councillors additionally hit out at Dunnes over the chain’s dealing with of the vacant unit.
Labour’s Cllr Terry O’Brien accused the retail big of holding the city to ransom whereas Impartial Cllr Sam Locke mentioned that the retailer had “thrown” council overtures “again in our face, time and time once more”.
In April 2021 Cllr Deirdre Ferris referred to as for the constructing – which she mentioned was having a destructive influence on neighbouring premises – to be added to Kerry County Council’s derelict websites register however she was advised by council administration that it didn’t meet the standards of a derelict website.
Beforehand – previous to a change in laws in January 2021 – in rural cities the homeowners of vacant premises might declare a 100 per cent refund on charges payable.
House owners of vacant properties can nonetheless acquire a reduction on the speed they owe however the stage of low cost is now linked on to the worth of the property, with bigger premises now given a far decrease credit score on their charges.
For instance for properties price between €50,000 and €100,000 a 50 per cent “emptiness credit score” applies whereas properties price €100,000 or extra – the class the Tralee Dunnes outlet is more likely to have fallen into – can now avail of a 25 per cent credit score.
It has beforehand been reported that Dunnes Retailer operated a coverage whereby strict standards are imposed on potential tenants of properties it owns to make sure they weren’t occupied by potential rivals.