The €26 million redevelopment of Dublin's Victorian fruit and vegetable market is finally underway, with a scheduled reopening for the end of 2027.
The 127-year-old red brick building, located on Mary’s Lane, between Capel Street and Smithfield, has remained empty since it was closed by Dublin City Council in 2019.
Construction and conservation work is set to begin no later than June, reports the Irish Times.
The historic site will be transformed into a new retail and restaurant complex, housing at least 80 stalls.
According to Dublin City Council, the new facility will be a "quintessentially Irish food market" operating seven days a week to "support the city's north retail core and highlight the food offer to locals and visitors alike."
Shoppers can "do their weekly food shop, or dine on-site at the restaurant or traders stalls."
Facilities will be provided for “community growers and start-up food business” and more established local producers who will have a “direct route to market with some producing on-site,” the council said.
“The new market will act as a catalyst for regeneration and new uses in the area while providing for food education and associated events.”
The redevelopment of the structure was first proposed by the Dublin City Council in 2002, but the project has faced numerous setbacks and delays, reports TheTaste.ie.
Following three years of planning, the Markets Framework Plan was published in 2005, an ambitious €425 million project that included a retail, apartment and office complex six stories high with a new civic square and leisure centre. However, the large scale project was never realized as contracts weren't signed before the financial crash hit.
In 2011, Dublin City Council announced more modest plans to redevelop the site as a retail and wholesale food location, but the development was again stalled when it emerged vacant possession of the property was required for the work to take place. At that time, about a dozen wholesalers were still using the building and it took six years of negotiations for the council to secure vacant possession of the property
The council closed the market in 2019, with plans for a continental-style food court which it hoped to have operational by 2021.
In April 2024, council chief executive Richard Shakespeare said the market was scheduled to reopen in autumn 2026, but the council now says the work will require an additional year.
Completion of the project is expected in the third quarter of 2027 at a cost of €26.4 million.
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