CastleCourt

Coordinates: 54°36′1″N 5°55′53″W / 54.60028°N 5.93139°W / 54.60028; -5.93139
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CastleCourt
Outside CastleCourt in 2009
Map
LocationBelfast, Northern Ireland
Coordinates54°36′1″N 5°55′53″W / 54.60028°N 5.93139°W / 54.60028; -5.93139
Opening date1990 [1]
OwnerWirefox
No. of stores and services77 [2]
No. of anchor tenants1
Total retail floor area31,121 m2 (334,980 sq ft)[3]
No. of floors2
Parking1600 [4]
Websitewww.castlecourt-uk.com

CastleCourt is a shopping centre on Royal Avenue in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's third largest shopping centre after Victoria Square and Foyleside in Derry. As of 2007, it had approximately 16 million visits a year,[3] and sale densities ranked in the top 10% in the UK.[3]

History[edit]

Inside in 2010

The centre was built by John Laing on the site of the former Grand Central Hotel.[5] The nature of the development made it a target for the Provisional IRA: the centre was bombed five times during its construction, four times after it opened, and suffered incendiary bomb attacks. It is now the third largest shopping complex in Northern Ireland after the construction of the new Victoria Square shopping centre,[6] which is also located in Belfast, and Foyleside,[7] Derry.

In 2021, a multi-plan development was announced for the former Debenhams, a store that opened with the centre in 1990 and was their first store in the island of Ireland. The multi-plan development included a new cinema operated by Omniplex Cinemas called The Avenue, a new Starbucks (relocating from their former presence in the centre), New Look, the return of TK Maxx in the centre after moving to Donegal Arcade years ago and a leisure centre.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Castlecourt Shopping Centre". www.mybelfast.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 November 2002.
  2. ^ Moen, David (8 October 2019). "CastleCourt Shopping Centre Belfast". www.castlecourt-uk.com.
  3. ^ a b c "BELFAST - CASTLECOURT". westfield.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2007.
  4. ^ "Castle Court Shopping Centre". Archived from the original on 17 January 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
  5. ^ "Belfast's CastleCourt sold for £125m to Wirefox". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 29 July 2017. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  6. ^ Sharrock, David. "Belfast basks in new kind of boom; Confusion surrounds attempts to attract foreign investment but on the city's streets the tills are ringing in the benefits of peace".The Guardian, 14 December 1994.
  7. ^ "Foyleside 'About us'". Archived from the original on 31 October 2006. Retrieved 11 December 2006.

External links[edit]