Edinburgh's Ocean Terminal to get £10m boost and bin Porta rebrand after changing hands

Edinburgh’s Ocean Terminal shopping centre in Leith has changed hands, putting an end to plans to rebrand it as Porta, instead looking to inject £10 million into the site and add residential space, for example.

A JV between ICG Real Estate and its Scottish partner Ambassador Group has taken control of the centre. Picture: contributed.

An established investment and asset-management joint venture (JV) between ICG Real Estate and its Scottish partner Ambassador Group has taken control of the centre.

“This approach aims to move away from previous thinking about transforming the centre into an outlet mall and instead will deliver a more community-focused approach to meet the needs of the expanding residential and commercial areas across Leith,” they said.

The JV has ended Resolution Property’s involvement in the mall following a negotiated transfer of the asset to ICG and Ambassador. Under the new ownership, Ocean Terminal will “continue to build on its strong brand heritage” and the previous Porta concept will be binned. It will use the £10m funding for various upgrades to create a mixed offering with the introduction of residential, office and amenity space.

Centre manager Dennis Jones previously explained how the mall was looking to become an outlet destination called Porta. Picture: Lisa Ferguson.

Chris Richardson, investment director at Ambassador Group – which has more than £200m of assets under management in Scotland – said: “Ocean Terminal should be the centre of Leith. It has got great leisure and [food and beverage] offerings and one of the busiest cinemas in Edinburgh.

“Our plan is to reposition the centre with residential, office and other amenity space, that will allow us to retain and build on the existing experience Ocean Terminal is known for and liked. We will create a more mixed-use environment for the people of Edinburgh and Leith.

“Over 3,500 houses will be delivered around the site and the tram will arrive at the front door… We plan to give it a local touch through our initiatives and have already progressed a number of deals in the past few weeks.”

Discussions have been taking place during lockdown to negotiate new deals with tenants, including Vue Cinemas, Debenhams, French Connection, Gap and H&M, with talks also under way to attract new names, in a bid to achieve full occupancy in the future of the 420,000 square foot centre.

Kevin Crowley, head of partnership capital UK at ICG Real Estate, said: “A lot of retail assets in the UK may be distressed from an occupational point of view, but many owners are also distressed having third party debt and private equity ownership.

“At Ocean Terminal you now have two well-capitalised counterparties and no third-party debt… when we have been having discussions with tenants, those talks have been focused on what is the best long-term strategy for the asset, rather than what’s good for short term cashflow.”

Donald Syme has been appointed retail asset manager, and Savills and Syme Property Consultancy have been appointed on joint letting agency roles. The centre is also eyeing a “sustainable, phased” re-opening as lockdown restrictions ease.

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