Council selling block of four buildings on Connaught Street

Four adjoining buildings on Connaught Street in Athlone are being offered for sale, on behalf of Westmeath County Council, at a guide price of €450,000.

Estate agent Avison Young is managing the sale of the vacant residential or commercial buildings, which comprise units 39a to 45 on the west side street.

The buildings are described as offering a "unique town centre refurbishment/redevelopment opportunity in a prominent town centre location".

They cover a total area of 435.67 square metres, on a 0.1 hectare site, and the estate agent said they would be "suitable for a variety of uses in an area designated for urban regeneration."

The sale of the units was one of the initiatives mentioned last month at a meeting which the council held with local traders and residents in order to outline plans for the long-awaited regeneration of the west side of Athlone.

The council is preparing to turn three other idle properties on Connaught Street - at numbers 36, 53 and 59 - into social housing units.

Westmeath County Council's Director of Services Barry Kehoe told last month's meeting that Connaught Street would not return to being Athlone's commercial hub, as the commercial centre of the town had moved to the Golden Island and Church Street areas.

He said the local authority envisaged that the street would develop into one with a mixture of retail units on the ground level and residential units overhead.