€450m project to give former mill in Limerick a new lease of life

A MASSIVE €450m plan to transform a former toffee factory in the city centre is set to be unveiled.

Designers will, next week, present a blueprint as to how the former Cleeve’s mill on the north bank of the River Shannon will be developed between now and 2030.

The 10-acre site has remained largely out of use since production halted in the factory last century.

Now, in what looks likely to be a top-class European project, the area is set to be converted into a new neighbourhood for the city centre in a move which could deliver up to 2,000 jobs.

Limerick Twenty Thirty, the public body charged with developing the site, has promised “a new place to live work and play” in the city.

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It’s anticipated that there will be a mix of riverside apartments, traditional homes, and commercial facilities, with the public being asked to have their say on how it will look.

Codenamed the Cleeve’s Riverside Quarter, the development will also see office space and educational facilities.

The former factory building, with its landmark chimney stack will remain in place due to the fact it’s a protected structure. It may become a public exhibition space.

Back in 2019, it played host to a walking theatre production of Bread Not Profits, which looked back at the Limerick Soviet of a century earlier.

Chief executive of Limerick Twenty Thirty, David Conway said: “It’s going to be a really exciting blend of old and new, of residential and commercial, of cultural and recreational space. When completed, the Cleeve’s Riverside Quarter will be right up there with the very best mixed-use city developments in Europe. That’s the level of ambition we have and one we are determined to realise for Limerick and the wider region.”

Members of the council will be briefed about the riverside plans on Wednesday. And, next week, the public will be able to view a draft masterplan, with drop-in sessions being hosted at the site, near North Circular Road.

On Tuesday, March 28, the public can have their say between 6pm and 8pm, while the following day, a drop-in session will take place between 12noon and 2pm.