Merrion centre of attention for last 50 years

The Leeds shopping centre was the biggest of its kind in the UK – a claim it held for only a few days before the Bull Ring opened in Birmingham in the same week.

Fifty years later, Ziff is chief executive and chairman of Town Centre Securities, the Merrion Centre’s owner and the company his late father, Arnold, founded in 1959.

He remembers the opening well. “We asked the Queen to come and open the centre but she declined so my mother did the honours instead.”

Initially, Merrion was home to a number of upmarket retailers including Chelsea Girl, which became River Island, and Fosters Menswear.

But over the years it gradually changed to focus on value-for-money retailers, which today include Morrisons, Superdrug and Home Bargains. “Merrion did not really establish itself until Morrisons opened in 1973,” he said.

In 2013, more than 10.6 million visitors flocked to the million square foot Merrion Centre and it is making a record amount of money.

“I think it’s fair to say that Merrion has never been worth more money than it is today in spite of the fall-off in property values over the last four or five years,” said Ziff. “That’s because we’re collecting more rent than ever before.”

He added: “We know exactly who we appeal to in terms of socio-economic classes and I think our tenants recognise that and our prospective tenants recognise that.

“We’re about 97 per cent let and when we have voids we find that we can identify quite readily potential tenants who might fill the empty shops.”

The arrival of Leeds Arena last year was a major boost for Merrion. Town Centre Securities does not have exact figures on how much it has contributed to Merrion’s growth but it says footfall figures for arena days are akin to busy Christmas trading.

The centre is halfway through a £15m makeover to create new units for bars and restaurants, including Pan Asian buffet restaurant chain Cosmo, and Jones Bar. It also plans to revamp the car park.

Ziff said: “The arrival of the arena has been a fantastic opportunity for us. It fills our car park on arena nights, when the car park would usually be empty, and it has allowed us to develop the whole of the northern front of the Merrion Centre.”

The next part of the development is the refurbishment of the car park, which is likely to happen in two separate phases to enable the car park to remain open during building work.

The work will transform both the inside and outside, adding another set of circulation ramps to enable cars to get in and out more quickly.

But whilst the arena is boosting business, there are still a number of traffic management issues to iron out.

“After the Sports Personality of the Year event in December we emptied the car park in 40 minutes because all the roads around the arena were closed,” said Ziff.

“The following Thursday night Andre Rieu was in town, and Wade Lane was like a coach park so it took an hour and three quarters to empty the car park.

“It reflects on us but if we can’t get the car on to the street from the car park there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Meanwhile, Merrion has been further boosted by the largest office pre-let deal in Leeds city centre in more than 20 years.

Town Centre Securities is to a carry out a major refurbishment of its 10-storey Merrion House and build a new 50,000 sq ft, six-storey extension for Leeds City Council.

“It further strengthens Merrion as a destination in this part of the city,” said Ziff. “It’s a major coup and we are absolutely thrilled about it.”

The Merrion Centre is also in talks with two potential occupiers for the Merrion Hotel, which closed down 18 months ago after the operator went bust.

But the development dilemma that continues to plague Ziff is what to do with the space above Home Bargains, what used to be a 1,000-seat Odeon cinema in the 1960s.

It has remained empty ever since it closed in the early 1970s.

“Logic tells me it should be good for something,” he said.

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