THE LEASEHOLD for one of Newport’s most famous shopping centres is going up for auction.

The leasehold for Kingsway Shopping Centre is listed for Thursday, September 21, by commercial property auctioneers Acuitus - with a guide price of £1 million.

Current tenants at Kingsway include Sainsbury’s, PureGym, Starbucks and Wilko.

The sale includes Sovereign House, a seven-storey vacant office building which sits on top of the Kingsway centre.

The current arrangement provides space for 36 retail units as well as office accommodation, a gym and car park.

In all, the shopping centre offers more than 183,000 sq ft of retail and leisure accommodation and more than 32,000 sq. ft of office space.

The property generates almost £1.2 million in annual gross rent, the auction listing has revealed.

Kingsway sits near the Friars Walk shopping centre, which has itself faced questions about its ownership, and the Newport Knowledge Quarter, which will include the Coleg Gwent campus replacing the Newport Centre.

The leasehold from Newport City Council runs for a term of 250 years from August 13, 2009, at a minimum rent of £265,000 per annum.

Newport council is currently demanding £150,000 per annum in rent until June 2025.

Jon Skerry of Acuitus said: “Assets of this size and located in popular city-centre locations such as this often catch the eye of investors looking for investments with active asset management potential.

“The city has seen recent regeneration efforts across infrastructure, housing, and retail which makes for exciting opportunities for assets like this.”