Multi Development UK Ltd, the company behind the £320 million Victoria Square development has today announced that it has secured niche woman’s brand Coast to rent space in the new state of the art development. The store in Victoria Square, Belfast will be Coast’s first stand-alone shop in Northern Ireland.
Coast, one of the UK’s most successful and rapidly expanding brands, will take a 2,200 sq ft (204 m²) store within the 800,000 sq ft development and will be situated on the lower ground floor, next door to Lunn’s jewellers.
Differentiated by its product range and store environment, Coast provides women with beautifully designed, quality clothing for special occasions. Already a favourite with Belfast’s female shoppers, all of Coast’s garments are exclusively designed in-house with a distinct point of difference.
Richard Green, Multi’s UK Leasing Manager is confident that more of the same quality of retailer is to follow: “I am delighted to announce that Coast is the next retailer to commit to Victoria Square. Coast is positioned in the upper middle market of the UK high street and matches the profile of shoppers Victoria Square will attract. Our strategy has been to attract new names to Belfast – House of Fraser, H&M, Urban Outfitters and ODEON are retailers with either no Belfast, Northern Ireland nor Ireland presence. Having secured these brands for the larger units within the scheme, a series of announcements will be made during 2007 of more new brands taking smaller space in Victoria Square with a similar market positioning to Coast.”
The performance of the brand and its unique positioning has attracted widespread attention on the UK retail market having won Retail Week and Drapers Record awards. Part of Baugur Group, Coast currently trades from 40 solus stores and 160 concessions in the UK and Ireland.
Construction on the 800,000 sq ft (75,000 m²) mixed-use scheme is continuing apace. Construction on the glazing of the glass Dome at Victoria Square will commence in January with the completed Dome visible to the public six months later. Victoria Square will open in March 2008.
Donaldsons agents, London, acted for Multi Development UK.
Multi Corporation
Multi Corporation comprises a group of companies carrying out various disciplines throughout Europe in property development, investment, asset management and mall management. With a Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund as its new financial partner, Multi has strengthened its position to become an investing developer and move forward on its path to further growth. Multi’s strategy is and remains focused on developing projects in European countries where significant growth is expected.
Multi Development develops large-scale mixed-use retail schemes, inner-city regeneration projects and offices. To profit from the growth in value of its projects, Multi will retain a selected number of developments entirely or partially within its own portfolio. Multi Asset Management will ensure quality and further growth in value of the project. To achieve this, Multi Mall Management will be conducting the shopping mall management.
Across Europe, Multi’s inner-city projects, shopping centres and business parks appeal to peoples’ imagination. All concepts are conceived through a unique Design & Development formula by our in-house architect practice, T+T Design. Multi’s projects are internationally recognized for their original and innovative nature, quality of architectural character and profound sensitivity to the blending of urban design. Our developments regularly act as the engine for regenerating a city or region. By respecting local culture and style we develop projects with which people can easily identify.
Multi Development’s activities in 18 countries in Europe are conducted from offices in The Netherlands (head-office), United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Poland and Czech Republic.
In the UK, Multi Development has 3 inner-city regeneration projects underway; Victoria Square in Belfast (£320m, 800,000 sq ft) which opens in Spring 2008; Summer Row, Wolverhampton (£265m, 600,000 sq ft) which opens in 2010 and Southgate, Bath (£350m, 417,000 sq ft) which opens in 2011.