by Lauren Mills
Debenhams has beaten off competition from House of Fraser and Harvey Nichols to anchor Forth Ports’ £60m Ocean Terminal scheme near Edinburgh.
The deal will kickstart the 41,800m2 (450,000 sq ft) mixed shopping and leisure development, the final phase in the regeneration of the port of Leith, about a mile north of the Scottish capital.
Forth Ports has already spent £5m clearing the site, and the entire project is on schedule to open in 2001.
Debenhams is taking 9,755m2 (105,000 sq ft) for its store, which will trade on the ground, first and second floors. The deal, which is in solicitors’ hands, is based on a 25-year lease, with five-yearly rent reviews. The rent is believed to be around £735,000 pa, or £75 per m2 (£7 per sq ft).
Joint letting agents Carter Wassell Murdoch and Hamilton Glen refused to confirm whether a deal with Debenhams had been agreed. However, they admitted that talks with “a major department store” were well advanced.
Forth Ports won planning permission for its massive development, designed by London-based architect CD Partnership, earlier this year.
In addition to the department store, Ocean Terminal will include 54 shops, hotels, restaurants and an eight-screen multiplex. It will also have 1,600 parking spaces. An added attraction is the Royal Yacht Britannia, which is moored directly in front of the shopping centre.
Debenhams demerged from Burton Group in January and has announced plans to open 10 more stores over the next two years: Milton Keynes and Carlisle are on the list. It is also to anchor Northern Retail’s Sm ralind shopping centre in Reykjavik, Iceland.
No one at Debenhams was available to comment on Ocean Terminal.
The scheme is the centrepiece of a regeneration programme for the area. The programme has already attracted the Scottish Office, the Bank of Scotland’s headquarters and Scot FM radio station.
