Major plan to demolish and rebuild big chunk of Newry city centre

The developer is listed as Kerr Property Holdings Ltd, and plans involve developing 2,100 sq m (about 23,000 sq ft) of office space in the Merchants Quay/Cornmarket area.

The plans entail demolition of numbers 46 to 54 Merchant’s Quay (except for the listed building at number 47), and number nine to 17 on Cornmarket.

The development will be within Newry Conservation Area.

As well as the office space, the blueprints include three retail units, a cafe, 82 residential units (both private and social) plus a courtyard and car parking.

The documentation submitted shows the development will be called “Pearce’s Gate”.

A heritage analysis received by planners on May 20 says much of the site is currently derelict and the revamp will create “an impressive juxtaposition of old and new” and respect “the heritage and historic beginnings of the surrounding area”.

The documentation goes on to add that Newry has been settled since about 1100AD, and the earliest map dates to 1568 – noting that the port city “at one time sought to rival Belfast”.

The building at number 47 was occupied by a businessman called James McMahon in the 1830s, who charted ships full of emigrants from south Down to America during the Potato Famine.

This building is intended to be central to the plans, and would become the ground floor entry point to the offices above it.

Besides that building, the other ones in the site “are not considered to contribute positively to the conservation area”, according to the heritage analysis report submitted by the developer.

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