Canadians considering buying Laois Shopping Centre

A Canadian company is considering buying Laois Shopping Centre.

The centre in Portlaoise which opened 31 years ago, is owned by Harcourt Developments who placed it on the market, along with several other regional shopping centres last year.

Canada’s Camgill Development Corporation has emerged as a likely bidder for Harcourt Development’s shopping centres, according to The Sunday Times.

The newspaper reports that Camgill is in talks about buying Harcourt’s shopping centres in Dublin, Donegal, Galway, Laois, Limerick and Louth.

The Canadian property company recently bought the Dundalk retail park in Co Louth. Harcourt’s other shopping centre properties include Longwalk in Dundalk, Galway Shopping Centre and Donaghmede in Dublin.

Disappearing Portlaoise parking spaces may hit Laois town's traders

No jobs are expected to be affected if the Laois centre is sold. The company only employs two direct management staff there, with all other staff including security and cleaners outsourced to other companies.

Second high profile Laois restaurant shuts down this January

Laois Shopping Centre recently saw the closure of Rafter's Restaurant, while planning was recently approved for anchor tenant Penney's to double the size of their store.

The centre underwent a major expansion by Harcourt Developments a decade ago, increasing the size of the Tesco to become one of the biggest in Ireland. Penney's plans to triple the size of its shop.

The project stalled during the property crash but restarted but its size was scaled back.