Athlone has highest retail vacancy rate among Irish 'high streets'

A new report has found that Church Street and Dublingate Street in Athlone have more retail vacancies than other 'high streets' across the country. Property consultants CBRE carried out a survey in nine towns and cities in the third quarter of this year. It found that the vacancy rate on Church/Dublingate Street was 18.2%, which was higher than any of the other locations surveyed. O'Connell Street in Limerick had the second highest level of retail vacancies, at 16.3%. The CBRE report said: "Athlone's main street has particularly struggled to compete against the Athlone Towncentre scheme which was completed in 2007 and accommodates a number of major multiple retailers such as Marks and Spencer, H&M, Zara and Next. "In total, 16 of the 88 retail units surveyed along Athlone's main street are visibly vacant (others may be temporarily occupied but available off-market) and typically comprise smaller older units which would not appeal to the large multiple retailers that occupy the neighbouring town centre scheme." The company stated that in locations where there had been a focus on upgrading the main streets and enhancing the appeal of the location to shoppers, vacancy levels were lower. The lowest 'high street' vacancy rates were found in Galway and Killarney. CBRE said "the biggest risk to retailers at present is the impact the threat of increased austerity measures in the Budget will have on consumer spending patterns." Suzanne Barrett, Associate Director at CBRE noted that: "High streets in many towns across the country have suffered as a result of the development of new shopping centres or retail offerings elsewhere in the town. "Towns where development occurred outside of the traditional core town centre and where high streets have been left to compete without upgrades or visible improvements, are struggling to attract new occupiers," she added.