Milligan ponders sale of Liverpool’s Met Quarter

John Milligan is considering a £105m sale of his 150,000 sq ft Met Quarter shopping centre in Liverpool. The former Jones Lang LaSalle European retail director turned property developer has appointed niche retail agent Stockford Staunton to sell the scheme, which opened in March last year, at a circa 4% yield. Several potential purchasers have been approached about buying the shopping centre, which is let to fashion retailers including Diesel, Tommy Hilfiger and Miss Sixty. Footfall at the Met Quarter topped 1m in the four months after its opening, but sources said those figures had now dropped, and Manchester’s Trafford Centre is still the more popular shopping destination. “The Met Quarter is not trading as well as expected,” said a source, “and there is a big panic going on in Liverpool at the moment that, if the Met Quarter can’t trade well, then what will happen at Liverpool One?” Grosvenor says its 1.6m sq ft Liverpool One development is more than 50% let, although insiders say the company is under increasing pressure from Liverpool council to sign up more retailers. The council is keen to see the scheme fully let for its 2008 opening, when Liverpool becomes European City of Culture.