Site for sale near Joe Dolan bridge previously okayed for filling station

A significant site close to the Joe Dolan Bridge that has been listed for sale in the last two weeks has in the past had permission in place for a filling station.

The permission is now lapsed, but it is considered likely that Westmeath County Council would be open to approving a similar development were a new application to be submitted, believes auctioneer Alan Bracken, of Sherry FitzGerald Davitt and Davitt, Mullingar.

“We don’t envision that there would be any difficulty in reactivating it,” said Alan this week.

The site, which has an asking price of €950,000, is located at the Clonmore end of the bridge on a plot that extends from the road as far back as the CL Plant and Tool Hire operation at Mullingar Business Park.

The site is in two parts: the 2.8 acre section for which the planning permission was in place, and a further 2.85 acres zoned commercial.

The permission, obtained in 2016, was for a fuel station of 180 square metres plus pumps, a fuel store of 279 square metres and a bulk tank area measuring up at 188 square metres.

“There is a huge under-supply of warehouse and those type of units on the market at present, so you will have people who would be interested in the potential to build on the second portion of the site,” says Alan,

Although the listing went live only a week ago, there have been a number of calls about it already, interest being driven not just by the fact that there has already been a grant of planning permission made, but by virtue of the location, says Alan.

“It’s a very busy thoroughfare, part of the C-Link Road,” he says, pointing out that if a road were opened to cover the short distance between the site and the Mullingar Business Park, it would also create a new route out of town.

Potential buyers could be business people who already have two or three stations, or an investor tempted by the lucrative rental incomes that result from filling station leases.

The site is coming on the market at an interesting time as the population living along the C-Link is set to grow significantly with construction of 500 new homes under way at present.

“That side of Mullingar is expanding rapidly,” says Alan.

The vendors are a local business family from Mullingar.