Decathlon has announced the opening of a new store in Clerys Quarter in Dublin’s city centre which is expected to see busy days ahead in this sought-after location.
Decathlon is a French retail company providing an array of sporting goods in over 50 countries and is known as the largest sporting goods retailer worldwide.
The company has taken a 30-year lease on the unit which is set to open later in 2024.
Dillon Eustace advised Decathlon throughout this deal and their team was led by Kelly O’Hara, Partner, Real Estate and included Breifne Muldoon and Amy Murphy, Associates in Real Estate.
Q&A with Kelly O’Hara
Kelly, can you tell us more about your role leading the team for this project and what your approach was when working with Decathlon for their new opening?
This was our first time working with Decathlon and we were delighted to help them lease such a high-profile new store. The store forms part of an historic building in Dublin city centre which has been re-developed as a mixed-use retail, office and restaurant scheme. As team lead, I made sure that the Dillon Eustace team spent a lot of time getting to know the Decathlon team and their technical advisors. It was vital that we understood their practical requirements for both store opening and store operation to ensure that these would be reflected in the lease and related transactional documents.
This was our first time working with Decathlon and we were delighted to help them lease such a high-profile new store
Expand on the members in your team and how the skills and expertise at Dillon Eustace were the best match for this project, what was needed from your team to ensure everything went smoothly?
It was necessary to work as a project team to address the issues arising and to meet the target dates. Our team includes specialist construction lawyers who oversaw the review of the construction and design team documents for the deal. Another colleague undertook a review of the landlord’s title and planning documents while I led the lease negotiations, with the whole team working together to report to our client, take instructions and deliver the project on terms acceptable to our client.
How has this project benefited your client and what does it mean for you to support businesses in their growth and expansion?
The deal represents the first city centre premises and multi-tenanted building that Decathlon has leased in Ireland. As a new project for the Decathlon team in Ireland, there were many “learnings” to which we were delighted to contribute, and which will stand our client in good stead on future deals to expand its footprint in Ireland. We have assisted many new entrants to the real estate market and we pride ourselves in working closely with our clients to help them expand their businesses. As a multi-disciplinary practice, we provide advice across the legal spectrum to include the establishment of vehicles for real estate projects and the provision of specialist tax advice.
As a firm, we are well known for providing detailed legal and pragmatic advice and working hand in glove with our clients to achieve their goals.
Explain your team’s approach to negotiating the lease for this space.
Although the Clerys building is a protected structure and the current building dates from 1922, it has been extensively re-developed over the past few years. It was important for our team to understand the re-developed building and the rights that our client would require to operate its store, including for deliveries, tenant plant, flexibility in relation to store layout and window displays. We were also mindful of the historic façade and features of the building and we worked closely with our client, its agent and the developer’s solicitors to address all these issues in the lease.
Were there any challenges you faced during this process to lease a store in this great location for Decathlon, what were they and how did you overcome them?
It was challenging to meet the short timeframe for the deal. We undertook the project in a spirit of a collaboration with our client and the developer’s team to ensure the timeframe was met. To the extent that issues arose, these were raised, teased out and addressed pragmatically. As the store fronts onto O’Connell Street, the historic thoroughfare in the heart of Dublin, a key concern surrounded the extent to which external matters such as roadworks or parades, might impact on trade. This is clearly an issue for any city centre premises and underscores the need for city centre businesses to work together to address such issues with all interested parties, including the local authority, should they arise.
What will the next steps for Decathlon be for their opening later in the year and how will you and your team be continuing your support through this next stage?
Decathlon is presently fitting out its store. We are on hand to assist with any issues that arise with this, including in relation to obtaining all necessary statutory consents. Our client is also required to deliver various documents to the landlord at the end of this process and we will work with them to ensure these obligations are met.
