A NEW shopping centre in the heart of York has equalled the city centre's letting price record, according to the property consultancy which negotiated terms for the five stores it will house.

The new occupants on the 50,000 sq ft ground floor of the modern building on the corner of Spurriergate and High Ousegate will each pay £200 per sq ft, generating a combined annual income of almost £1.3 million for developers Insight Investments, of London.

Fashion shops Zara and H&M have leased 17,000 sq ft and 20,000 sq ft spaces. Computer games and accessories store Game, which was in the building before its redevelopment, bookmakers William Hill and mobile phone retailer Phones4U have each taken 2,000 sq ft units.

The leases on the outlets are all for 15 years.

Jonathan Newns, head of property consultancy King Sturge's in-town retail team, who negotiated the rents, said: "The completion of these deals is good news for York and we are delighted to have brought these new retailers to the city to increase its range of shops.

"However, the speed with which negotiations were completed and the high level of rents achieved underlines once again that there is a significant shortage of good retail units in this city.

"There is growing, unsatisfied demand for medium-to-large retail units, which needs to be met if York is to continue to rival the shopping offer in cities such as Leeds, with which it competes."

King Sturge also handled all project management, party wall and building consultancy matters for Insight Investments during the redevelopment of the building.

Updated: 10:23 Tuesday, April 04, 2006