Landmark Lidl Railway Street site on the market

Landmark Lidl Railway Street site on the market

22 January 2025

THE Lidl supermarket site in Newcastle is for sale.

The Railway Street property is on the market for just under £2m ahead of the store’s relocation to ultra-modern premises which are under construction at a 3.5 acre site at Shanslieve Drive at the site of a former primary school.

News of the decision to put the former Victorian railway station on the market came in the same week which marked the 75th anniversary of the closure of the Belfast and Co Down Railway.

The one acre site is adjacent to the town’s bus station, prestigious Slieve Donard Hotel and world famous Royal County Down links golf course.

Built in 1905, the red brick property has a three storey tower between two single storey pitched roof properties, one of which was a former public house. 

The tower enjoys protected status.

The rear the property has been extended providing a large modern single storey extension with a pitched cladded roof over, with service access via the rear car park.

There are 65 parking spaces, with the current annual rent £105,000, with the current agreement due to expire this November.

A brochure compiled by the selling agent reveals there are no active planning applications on the site which is within the area plan’s town centre and settlement limit. 

Lidl has been based at Railway Street since 2001, with the former St Mary’s Girls’ Primary School razed to the ground recently paving the way for building work to start on a modern new £3m store which could open before the end of the year.

Lidl decided to vacate Railway Street as the location was no longer suitable for its growing business needs and switched attention to what has been described as a new “concept store” which will  accommodate its growing customer numbers.

In addition, the supermarket giant says the new store will offer a “superior shopping experience” for the people who live in and around Newcastle.

Car parking for 147 spaces is available at the front of the new store with the Bryansford Road entrance used by both customers and delivery vehicles.  A new pedestrian crossing at the Bryansford Road junction with Shimna Road is also being provided.

Under the terms of the planning approval, there will be one lorry delivery daily with waste generated at the store removed by the same vehicle.

Deliveries will be scheduled outside the traditional peak times of 8am and 9am and 5pm and 6pm and made to the loading bay. Lidl is also appointing an operations manager and service vehicles will not be permitted to park on the Bryansford Road.

The store’s net retail floorspace will not exceed 1,338 square metres, with no goods or merchandise positioned on the forecourt. Almost 270 square metres of floorspace can be used for non-convenience retailing.

The new store not be permitted to open until the foul water and surface drainage works have been submitted and approved by the relevant authority and constructed by the developer in line with the approved design.

Plans to redevelop the former primary school site were originally submitted in January 2018 with permission being sought to bulldoze the existing school to pave the way for the construction of a new food store and the dedicated centre for the volunteers who run the mountain rescue team. Lidl, which currently employs 14 staff, claims its proposal will create 12 new jobs.

Meanwhile, the Shanslieve Drive site, which is adjacent to Donard Park, will also be home to a £1m dedicated base and education centre for the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team.

It recently secured the remainder of the money it needed to build its new home at the foothills of the Mournes.

Shortly before Christmas, the Community Ownership Fund announced the rescue team was to receive almost £540,000 in funding with its volunteers are delighted with the significant financial boost.

They are eager to see construction work start on the new carbon neutral base at the foothills of the Mournes with hopes that the new building could open by September.

Last year, the rescue team launched an appeal to raise £400,000 to help it reach the £1m target to build the base on land donated by Lidl.

The appeal sparked a huge public response and while the £1m target has been reached, the base’s final construction costs have yet to be confirmed.

The rescue team says continued financial support is “critical” and has thanked the public for its continued support and generosity over many, many years.