Hammerson's dedicated leisure-led development, Westquay Watermark, has celebrated the first restaurants opening their doors to the public over the weekend.
At 96% pre-let, the £85m scheme which is adjacent to Hammerson’s jointly owned Westquay shopping centre, is set to completely transform Southampton’s leisure and dining offer, having attracted an all new line-up of over 20 restaurants to the city, and the most digitally advanced cinema in Europe.
Operators include Cosmo (pictured), Franco Manca, Cau, Byron and Red Dog Saloon, which makes its first move outside of London, among many others restaurateurs.
To mark the opening, Hammerson hosted a weekend of festivities that saw the launch of ‘Luminate Southampton’, a spectacular light show with a parade through the city’s streets and a light projection onto the historic city walls in the scheme’s stunning new Esplanade, an exceptional new city plaza which will host over 100 events and activities throughout the year.
The remaining restaurants and Hollywood Bowl will open through December, culminating with the arrival of the highly anticipated Showcase Cinema de Lux in February 2017.
Now the UK’s largest restaurant and leisure complex, the development is a key project for the continued growth of Southampton, making Westquay the region’s leading retail, dining and leisure destination on the south coast.
Regenerating a previously underutilised area of the city, the scheme has also played an important part in boosting local employment, creating 640 construction jobs and bringing 500 hospitality and catering opportunities to local people.
Robin Dobson, Director of Retail Development at Hammerson, commented, “Westquay Watermark is a stunning development and one that is particularly significant for Hammerson being its first solely leisure focused scheme to be delivered. Creating a new destination for Southampton that brings an entirely new dining and entertainment offer, it is great to see the first of the restaurants opening and we look forward welcoming many more.”
Councillor Simon Letts, Leader of Southampton City Council, added, “Southampton welcomed the first opening of Westquay’s new dining and leisure destination on Saturday. The spectacular launch events over the weekend helped to mark this important first step, with many of the restaurants opening their doors for the first time.
“This extension to Westquay is one of seven Very Important Projects (VIP’s), which are taking place as part of the ongoing City Centre Masterplan, so it is fantastic to see one of these projects coming to fruition.
“The Council’s strong ongoing relationship with Hammerson is underlined by this important milestone, which is key to continuing growth in the city. The new dining and leisure offering boosts the local economy and also creates hundreds of new jobs, helping us to deliver our promise of making Southampton a ‘city of opportunity, where everyone thrives’.”