Major UK Shopping Center Metrocentre Put Up for Sale

One of the country’s biggest shopping centers has been put up for sale ahead of a major redevelopment.

The Metrocentre in Gateshead, one of the UK’s largest shopping centres, now up for sale as redevelopment plans move forward. (Photo: Metrocentre Facebook)

The owners of the Metrocentre in Gateshead have confirmed the center has been placed on the market to “support the next phase of its development,” which includes plans to build thousands of homes around the site, Jonny Manning reported for BBC News.

Reports suggest Frasers Group — owned by former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley — is in talks to buy the shopping center, but the company has declined to comment on any potential interest.

A spokesperson for the Metrocentre said the sales process was still in its “early days.”

They added: “Metrocentre’s sustained strong performance, combined with increasing investor interest in major retail and leisure destinations, has led Metrocentre to move forward with a sale process to support the next phase of its development.”

The company said it has invested £60 million in the center since 2020, which helped increase footfall to 16 million for the first time since the pandemic. A target sale price has not been made public, but the center is expected to fetch upwards of £500 million.

The Metrocentre and its surrounding brownfield land has been earmarked to become a major new neighborhood known as MetroRiverside.

The plans are a collaboration between the Metrocentre Partnership and Gateshead Council and would see thousands of homes built near the River Tyne.