Tesco has submitted plans for a multi-million pound retail park at Newtownards, a commuter town to the east of Belfast.
The project, which will have a floor area of 647,104 sq ft , is on part of the 60-acre site proposed for the Castlebawn mixed-use development.
Tesco’s plans consist of a 60,000 sq ft food store as well as six shops totalling 110,000 sq ft. It will also accommodate a petrol station.
The project is a joint venture with local developers Castlebawn which is owned by former boxing promoter Barney Eastwood and local property developer Adam Armstrong.
Safeways has also signed up as a tenant for a 60,000-sq ft anchor supermarket on the site and has submitted an application for an adjoining 50,000-sq ft non-food retail unit.
If it receives planning permission, Tesco will close its existing supermarket in the Ards Shopping Centre, about a mile away from Castlebawn.
A spokesman said that it feels that the Castlebawn site would provide it with greater opportunities to expand its business because of the extra space and parking available there.
Local developer Padraig Drain bought Ards Shopping Centre from REIT Asset Management in 2003 for £45m and is working on proposals to redevelop and expand the 274,488 sq ft scheme, which was originally built in 1975.
References: EGi News 27/10/05
