A design image showing the planned retail and apartment development on Athlone's Dublin Road, which has been granted planning approval by Westmeath County Council.

Go-ahead granted for new retail and apartment block opposite TUS in Athlone

Adrian Cusack

Published: Wed 10 Sep 2025, 12:39 PM

Last updated: Wed 10 Sep 2025, 12:41 PM

The streetscape across the road from the TUS campus in Athlone looks set to change after Westmeath County Council granted planning approval this month for a new retail and apartment development rising to a height of five-storeys.

The project is set to involve the demolition of existing business premises The Good Cafe, Asian Foods Store, and Pat Smith Craft Butcher, which are located on the Dublin Road site of the proposed new building.

The council gave the green light for the development subject to 28 conditions, one of which involves a reduction in the number of apartments planned, from 21 to 18.

Trevor Allen lodged the planning bid for the project last December, and the council twice reverted to him seeking further information on certain aspects of the project.

The new retail and apartment block is described in the plans as a "part 3, part 4 and part 5 storey mixed-use building" which would contain six retail units at ground floor level, and apartments on the upper floors.

During the planning process one objection was received - from the owner of the neighbouring Daly Apartments complex, Cloudview Properties Limited.

Cloudview Properties said it no objection in principle to the development, but it was opposing the scale and design of what was planned.

Another design image of the planned building.

In its decision, signed off on Friday, September 5, Westmeath County Council concluded that, once the 28 planning conditions were met, the new building "would be in accordance with the proper planning and development of the area".

It stipulated that the number of apartments on the site would be 18, and not 21 as originally proposed, and that the apartments should be restricted to first occupation by "individual purchasers" or those availing of local authority housing schemes, rather than corporate entities.

The applicant was instructed to outline the proposed opening hours of the retail units at the site "within three months" and was ordered to pay a development contribution of €47,724 to the council.

The council instructed the developer to submit details of any new pedestrian infrastructure required in the vicinity of the new building prior to the start of construction, saying "any such proposals shall comply with the Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets (DMURS)."

Another of the planning conditions required the submission of a Construction and Environmental Management Plan, while the hours permitted for construction work to take place were 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Saturday.