Limerick City Council to help retailers occupy vacant shops
Limerick City Council has created a scheme that offers grants to retailers in order to fit out vacant properties within the city centre.
Print16 March 2011
Limerick City Council has created an incentives scheme to attract new retailers into the city centre.
The pilot Retail Incentive Scheme aims to rejuvenate the city – which has suffered continuing shop closures – by offering grants towards the fitting out of vacant shops.
Priority will be given to “higher order” retail outlets including fashion and lifestyle stores, flagship shops, and niche and specialist retailers including those in areas such as home furnishings, beauty products, jewellery and books.
Mayor Maria Byrne said creating “an attractive vibrant city centre coupled with a high quality retail offer is essential to the future viability of Limerick city centre.
“This will in turn positively enhance the overall economic vitality and viability of the city centre both for existing and new businesses.”
Under the scheme, grant relief will be based on certified fit-out costs subject to a maximum of 50% of the annual rates liability for the first year and to a maximum of 25% of the annual rates liability for the second year.
The scheme was recommended in the Mid-West Retail Strategy 2010-2016 document. A four weeks public consultation period will now take place with the scheme expected to begin in April 2011.
Retailer Robert Byrnes, who owns ‘Bobby Byrnes XL’ convenience store on the city’s O’Connell Avenue told ShelfLife: “Anything that brings more people into the city centre can only be a good thing.”
The only potential pitfall he foresaw would be if new traders were greatly helped at the expense of existing traders, yet overall he said he believed the initiative was “a very good idea.”
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