£10m regeneration plans for Carryduff Shopping Centre advance ahead of new store opening next year
The first phase of a multimillion-pound regeneration of the former Carryduff Shopping Centre gets under way this month as Lidl Northern Ireland moves to begin construction of a new £6.5 million anchor supermarket which will open early next summer.
The region’s fastest-growing supermarket confirmed today work will start within two weeks, injecting a new lease of life into the centre which has lain derelict for almost seven years.
The new Lidl Northern Ireland store will reflect its bright, modern and spacious ‘concept’ design, an expansive sales floor of 1,420 sq. metres with wide aisles, long tills, restrooms and baby-changing facilities as well as an in-store bakery and redeveloped parking for more than 200 vehicles.
Lidl Northern Ireland’s wider plans for the site include the creation of an additional large 9,000 sq ft retail unit, four smaller units and a drive-thru restaurant or coffee shop, with 35 new jobs directly created when the new store opens. Around 120 jobs will be created throughout the construction and development phase of the new store.
Lidl Northern Ireland, which will open another new store in Strabane later this year, anticipates a total investment in the Carryduff site of around £10 million.
Chris Speers, Regional Property Director, Lidl Northern Ireland said:
“The redevelopment of Carryduff Shopping Centre represents a major investment for Lidl Northern Ireland, both in the local community and in our wider retail estate portfolio so we’re delighted to be advancing our plans with construction work starting on our exciting plans to create a new, state-of-the-art store that will welcome shoppers right across the area from next year. We’d like to thank the local community for their support and look forward to bringing our successful ‘Big on Quality, Lidl on Price’ proposition to thousands of more visitors when we open early next summer.”
One of the region’s oldest shopping centres, built in 1985, Carryduff Shopping Centre closed in 2013.
Lidl Northern Ireland acquired the site in August 2020 and obtained planning permission for the new store and wider redevelopment in February last year.
Last month, Lidl Northern Ireland secured planning permission to build a new £4.5 million supermarket in Coleraine after Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council approved its plans to develop a largely vacant site at the northern end of the Riverside Retail Park.
The project will see a vacant unit demolished to make way for the new 26,640 sq ft Lidl store, supporting around 35 jobs.