Southampton
Southampton's largest retail centre, and 35th largest in the UK, is the WestQuay Shopping Centre, which opened in September 2000 and hosts major high street stores including John Lewis and Marks and Spencer. The centre was Phase Two of the West Quay development of the former Pirelli undersea cables factory; the first phase of this was the West Quay Retail Park, while the third phase (Watermark Westquay) was put on hold due to the recession. Work is has resumed in 2015, with plans for this third stage including shops, housing, an hotel and a public piazza alongside the Town Walls on Western Esplanade. Southampton has also been granted a licence for a large casino. A further part of the redevelopment of the West Quay site resulted in a new store, opened on 12 February 2009, for Swedish home products retailer IKEA. Marlands is a smaller shopping centre, built in the 1990s and located close to the northern side of WestQuay. Southampton currently has two disused shopping centres: the 1970s Eaststreet mall, and the 1980s Bargate centre. Neither of these were ever commercially successful; the former has been earmarked for redevelopment as a Morrison's supermarket, while the future of the latter is uncertain. There is also the East Street area which has been designated for speciality shopping, with the aim of promoting smaller retailers, alongside the chain store Debenhams. In 2007, Southampton was ranked 13th for shopping in the UK.
What year did work resume on the development of Watermark Westquay?
2015
Work is has resumed in 2015, with plans for this third stage including shops, housing, an hotel and a public piazza alongside the Town Walls on Western Esplanade.
Watermark Westquay