An Italian-themed restaurant is to open at the redeveloped Royal Hibernian Way just off Grafton Street in Dublin 2.

It is Friends First’s most significant letting at the scheme since taking full control of the property and securing planning permission to amalgamate a number of the retail units to restaurants.

The new restaurant will be in a 362sq m (3,900sq ft) unit which will be leased by the Press Up Entertainment Group which will provide an all-day offering from breakfast to dinner. It has an entrance from South Anne Street as well as considerable frontage into Royal Hibernian Way and the rent is likely to be more than €330,000 a year.

Darren Peavoy of Bannon, who handled the letting, says the “repositioning” of Royal Hibernian Way is now taking shape to provide a “food-anchored, lifestyle-orientated scheme which will have a cluster of like-minded users in a pleasant controlled environment, something that the Grafton Street area and city centre has been missing”.

Another restaurant unit of 222sq m (2,390sq ft) is also available for letting at Royal Hibernian Way. It is under offer at around €85 per sq ft.

Royal Hibernian Way is already home to the Lemon and Duke bar run by Noel Anderson with business partners from the Leinster rugby team including Jamie Heaslip, the Kearney brothers, and Sean O’Brien.

The surrounding area is due to get a boost with the impending opening of the Luas Cross City line and the opening of nearby refurbished office blocks, including One Molesworth Street.