Hammerson has secured Wahaca, Zizzi and Byron as the first restaurants for WestQuay Watermark, its £70 million development in Southampton, giving each restaurant its debut in the city.
Wahaca, the Mexican street food restaurant will take 291 m2 (3,140 ft2), Byron, serving its short and simple menu of high quality hamburgers will take 354m2 (3,820 ft²) alongside Zizzi which is set to take 280 m2 (3,015 ft2) of space. All will be located on the upper level of the development with Zizzi and Byron both fronting on to the new plaza.
This news follows the announcement in August that the luxury cinema brand Showcase Cinema de Lux, chose the development to open its first 10 screen digital cinema in the South, which will form a key part of the development.
WestQuay Watermark is set to become Southampton’s new city centre leisure hub providing the area with an exciting new dining and leisure destination and, as such, further announcements regarding the tenant line-up are expected in due course.
Sarah Fox, Head of Restaurants and Leisure at Hammerson commented: “We have secured a great first line-up of restaurants for WestQuay Watermark. There is a real opportunity for the development to attract restaurant brands which are new to the city and provide strong appeal for customers further afield.”
Peter Bruton, Byron’s Operations Director, said, “We’re delighted to be making our debut in Southampton as part of such a landmark development for the city. Ever since we opened the first Byron seven years ago, I’ve been hoping for a chance to bring proper hamburgers to my hometown, and WestQuay Watermark is the ideal opportunity to do just that.”
Marc Ward, Group Head of Acquisitions at Gondola Restaurants Limited said: “Zizzi are delighted to have secured a site in this exciting development. Southampton has been a major target for some time and WestQuay Watermark will offer both leisure and retail business generators at the heart of the city.”
Hammerson started work on site on 5th January 2015 with WestQuay Watermark scheduled to open in autumn 2016.
WestQuay Watermark is the centrepiece of Southampton City Council’s VIP ‘Heart of the City’ project, as identified within its City Centre Master Plan that promotes its vision for the city and has received £7 million from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund to support the transformation of the public realm into a new and vibrant plaza.
12 January 2015