ONE OF Belfast’s oldest companies, William Ewart, has sold a major shopping and leisure centre above Victoria Station in central London in a deal worth £91.8 million (€105.5 million).
The shopping centre has been bought by Network Rail, the not for dividend owner and operator of Britain’s railway infrastructure.
The shopping centre is located directly above Victoria Station, one of the busiest stations in the UK. An estimated 70 million passengers use the station every year.
William Ewart bought the 83,000sq ft Victoria Place shopping centre in December 2007 from the Metro Fund – a limited partnership between Land Securities and Delancey – for £92.5 million. The centre, which is anchored by supermarket chain Sainsbury’s, offers retailing and dining over three levels.
Ewart was once one of the largest linen manufacturers in the world but diversified into property. It traded as the publicly listed Ewart plc up until its acquisition by Dunloe House plc and in 2000 became Dunloe Ewart.
The property development investment company’s current owners acquired William Ewart Properties Limited – including the Northern Ireland and Britain assets from Dunloe Ewart in 2002.
Today the firm has a portfolio it claims is worth more than £1 billion, which includes two other London-based shopping centres.
