Belfast city centre is to house one of the largest shopping centres in Europe with UK companies MEPC, John Laing and Dunloe Ewart unveiling plans for a £400m scheme.
The development on Royal Avenue, the city’s prime retail pitch, will total 69,675m2. The venture will see MEPC – in conjunction with John Laing – extend its Castlecourt shopping centre by 37,160m2 to create a mega-mall of 69,676m2.
This will then be linked to Dunloe Ewart’s proposals to develop 32,515 sq m retail scheme on a Royal Avenue site the company has assembled over the past five years.
The joint venture partners intend pooling their respective sites and creating one of the largest city centre retail and leisure projects in Europe. Together with the existing Castlecourt centre, the development will create a single centre in excess of 9,290m2.
The announcement comes only two weeks after it emerged that Dutch developer Multi Development Corporation (MDC) is planning a 52,000m2 redevelopment of Victoria Square. MDC’s scheme will include a 25,000m2 department store.
