Key town centre site could bring big retail names to Tullamore

Developer and businessman Tony Flanagan wants to attract big name retailers to Tullamore with his latest acquisition of the 10.66 acre green field site on Church Road, Tullamore.

The site located next to Tullamore Shopping Centre is zoned for Town Centre use and Mr Flanagan said it represents a major 'opportunity' for development.

'It's a Town Centre zoned site so it's an opportunity site. It will require a fair bit of planning however,' he told the Offaly Independent this week.

'We are putting a design team in place and we are actively seeking interest in the site.'

'It has the benefit of planning permission already but it wouldn't be something that we'd be immensely happy with - the original plan was large and ambitious, we wouldn't be going for underground parking for instance, we'd be looking at a surface car park,' he commented.

'It will require a fair bit of work and detail.'

The original planning permission dates back almost ten years and zoned for a mix of retail and residential, consisting of 34 retail, commerical and restaurant units, as well as an eight screen cinema, 36 apartments and designs for an urban street network.

'We'd hope to attract big retail names into town that aren't here already,' Mr Flanagan continued.

'To be fair to the previous owners, it has been an opportunity site for a long time. It's rare that you'd get a green field site as large as this in the town centre and it's something that will take time to develop.

'We also have to be very mindful of the environment we're living in, not everyone wants to expand their business. If you take retail for instance, the online business has done a fair bit of harm to that, so we're living in a completely different environment to when the original planning came through.'