Grand Central shopping centre for sale even before it opens
The Grand Central shopping centre above New Street Station with its flagship John Lewis store is up for sale even before it has opened.
Birmingham city council, which owns the centre, is pressing ahead with plans to put the 450,000 square foot complex on the market as soon as possible.
The council bought the site, which formerly housed the run-down Pallasades shopping centre, in 2008 in an effort to speed up development of the New Street Gateway project.
It’s likely that the new owner or owners will be financial institutions or pension funds who will see Grand Central with its high-end shops and restaurants as a safe and profitable long term investment.
The council began marketing Grand Central in September 2012 and had little difficulty in finding tenants keen to be neighbours of John Lewis and to cash in on the huge annual footfall from passengers using New Street Station.
Grand Central is set to open in September 2015. So far almost 90 per cent of the new shops, restaurants and cafes including a 250,000sq ft John Lewis store, have already been let.
The remaining 200,000sq ft within Grand Central will provide retail space for a further 60 premium fashion and lifestyle shops, and more than 20 new cafes and restaurants.
Council Leader Sir Albert Bore said: “The Grand Central development has made excellent progress and I am delighted that it is on course to open to shoppers in September, along with the redeveloped New Street Station. I am also pleased that the majority of units at Grand Central have already been filled, with a strong likelihood that the centre will be fully let when it opens.
“It was always our intention to sell Grand Central once completed, so the time has now come for us to set the ball rolling to find the right buyer for this premium shopping destination, which will be a great asset for whoever acquires it.
“This is an incredibly exciting year for Birmingham, with Grand Central just one of a number of redevelopment projects coming to fruition, which in turn will create more job opportunities and attract greater investment to our city.”
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