ABOUT

Introduction

Blackpool is a long established and dominant suburban Shopping Centre and Retail Park north of Cork City offering a high concentration of internationally and nationally recognised retailers including Dunnes Stores, New look, Heatons, Next, Aldi, Woodies DIY amongst others. There are also a number of community services provided in the district including council library, post office and state health board.

Location

Blackpool is centrally located within the north suburbs of Cork City. The N20 main Cork to Limerick road is part of the local infrastructure leading to Blackpool which is one of Cork City’s most populous residential areas. Blackpool Shopping Centre and Retail Park are prominently situated at the junction of the N20 and North Ring Road which is just 1.4km from the city centre. This, together with the local road infrastructure, provides high accessibility for shoppers and business people. The immediate area is predominantly higher density residential in nature with some light industry along the N20 main road. The village neighbourhood is dominated by the Shopping Centre and Retail Park which is also a strong local employer together with providing a convenience, fashion and business destination for the suburb and wider environs. Blackpool is the only shopping district located north of the city. Blackpool is therefore long established as the dominant retail location for the entire population of the north cork City. In turn, Blackpool Retail Park has the added advantage of being the only largely open use Retail Park in the region.

About

Blackpool Shopping Centre was developed in 2000 and is now established for 18 years. The Shopping Centre has a total area of 18,268 sq. m divided into 8,413 sq. m of mall retail and ancillary space, a 6,665 sq. m anchor store and office space of 3,192 sq. m. It is a Dunnes Stores anchored centre with 36 mall units together with an extensive surface car park providing 650 free public spaces. The Shopping Centre is laid out as a traditional single linear mall, book-ended to the south by Dunnes Stores incorporating a large drapery, household and supermarket offer. There are 2 main mall entrances, one form the car park mid mall and the other at the northern end of the mall. Two self-contained buildings, Bowler House and the HSE building, are located outside the north mall entrance and contain further retail space with offices and library on the upper floors. A first-floor mezzanine unit of 816 sq. m as part of the north mall entrance accommodates Soundstore with access via an escalator, lift and stairway. The north mall entrance also forms part of the natural pedestrian linkage between the Shopping Centre and the immediate adjoining Retail Park development.

HSE

The HSE building is adjacent to the northern mall entrance comprising a three-storey building of 2,755 sq. m. It contains three ground floor retail units currently occupied by Bank of Ireland, McDonalds and Starbucks together with offices of 1,985 sq. m let to Bank of Ireland and the HSE. Surface car parking is provided around its periphery.

Bowler House – Library Building

Bowler House is a smaller external block of 1,725 sq. m which also adjoins the north mall entrance. The ground floor retail is occupied by Boyle Sports and Permanent TSB. The upper floors of 1,209 sq. m are entirely occupied by the local Blackpool Library.

Blackpool Retail Park

Blackpool Retail Park is located immediately adjacent to the shopping centre. The Retail Park development comprises a modern mixed use commercial centre containing 14,601 sq. m of retail accommodation 6,891 sq. m of vendor owned self-contained modern office space mostly over retail, a 6 screen cinema multiplex, a block of 28 self-contained apartments and finally a substantial multi-desk public car park with 804 free spaces and surface 230 car spaces fronting the retail units. The Retail Park was developed from 2004 onwards and is Cork City’s only open-use retail park.

Multi-storey Car Park

The multi-storey building contains a 4,535 sq. m unit currently occupied by Woodies DIY and garden centre and a 1142 sq. m unit occupied by Aldi Supermarket. The block also contains on the upper floors 804 car park spaces, some of which are reserved for the offices. The building contains two trolley-friendly lifts serving all floors.

Cinema Building

The ground floor of this building contains two retail units currently occupied by Argos Extra and Dealz. There is also a ground floor corner entrance to the cinema which occupies most of the upper floors

Heron House

This building comprises a total of 2008 sq. m of retail space at ground and mezzanine levels with three upper floors of modern offices. The ground floor is split into three retail units let and occupied by Boots and Lifestyle Sports

The Atrium Building

This block comprises a total of 2554 sq. m of retail and 5,685 sq. m of modern office space on the upper floors. The retail units are occupied by Heatons and Next. This is a prominent building within the overall development. The office accommodation is split over 5 upper levels with a feature atrium running through the centre of the building. Each floor is subdivided into a range of office suites and accessed via a central core with two lifts serving all floors.

River House

River House is a mixed use building with ground floor retail units and offices over 4 floors above. The retail units include Fine Wines, AIB Bank, Soba, DNG Condon.

Heron Gate

This block has a ground floor retail unit occupied by Roosters Piri Piri and 28 self-contained apartments above. The free standing Costa pod in the surface car park has 122.5 sq. m with a outside seating area in addition.

Park House

Park House is a stand-alone 4 storey office building on the periphery of the Retail Park to the rear of the cinema with a total of 2457 sq. m. The office element is occupied by Teamwork.com while the ground floor is occupied by Dennehy’s Gym, an established local business.