Multi-million euro refurbishment planned for former Limerick supermarket

A FORMER supermarket which has lain idle in the heart of Limerick city for nearly 15 years is to finally get a revamp.

Dunnes Stores closed its outlet in O’Connell Street in 2008, and the unit has been largely out of use since.

However, it’s now been confirmed that talks have kicked off between the council and the new owner of the building on its reuse.

Limerick Live can reveal a well-known city businessman purchased the property earlier this year, and now is planning to plough millions of euros into what they have described as a “major refurbishment.”

It’s understood two options are being considered for the unit, with planning permission already in place to change its use to a restaurant.

The news comes as a huge boost to Limerick, as the revitalisation of its main thoroughfare is expected to be complete next month.

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Labour City West councillor Joe Leddin, whose question at a metropolitan district meeting led to council director Nuala Gallagher confirming the talks, has welcomed the news, and urged the new owner to redevelop all floors of the multi-storey site, as opposed to just at street-level.

“I’m very much looking forward to a successful outcome on the pre-planning discussions that are taking place in terms of its future use whether it be retail or in the form of hospitality. I’d appeal to the new owner to maximise every floor space in that building in terms of the night-time economy and the accommodation potential it has for residential units overhead,” he said.

“If every business owner did that, we would really be on the right track to creating this vibrant living city we all want going forward.”

Up until 2019, Dunnes Stores held two vacant units in Limerick – the other at Sarsfield Street, which the University of Limerick has since turned into a city campus.

“It used to gall me to see the poor states these buildings were in. It was unfair on the other traders, be it the bank, Brown Thomas or whoever, that a fellow business owner would allow the building to go into a state of disrepair,” Cllr Leddin concluded.