Bridgewater (formerly known as The Outlet Park) is a major retail and business development in County Down, Northern Ireland, near Banbridge. It consists of a shopping outlet, retail park, drive-thru's and petrol stations.
The Boulevard opened in 2007 as The Outlet. the shopping outlet is a home to discount outlets for big-name fashion retailers. The site was empty and struggled with footfall, with only a third of its units filled.[1]
In 2016, The Outlet was acquired by Tristan Capital Partners and Lotus Property for more than £40m from its previous owner Ulster Bank, who acquired it from original owners GML Estates and Land Securities in 2011.[2][3][4][5] Tristan and Lotus invested in the struggling site to become one of the biggest leisure and shopping destinations in Northern Ireland. The investment included opening a 8 screen Omniplex cinema, a McDonald's drive-thru restaurant and an implementation of a glass roof. The Outlet was rebranded to The Boulevard in 2018.[6][7]
The Boulevard (then called The Outlet) in December 2009
In 2024, another investment was announced, with a Hollywood Bowl opening (the 2nd one in Northern Ireland) and an expansion of the area close to the Omniplex cinema, which will be redeveloped into a food and entertainment quarter. The development is expected to be finished by early 2026.[8][9][10]
Banbridge Retail Park
In 2014, the Bridgewater (then called The Outlet Park) development began to expand, with a new Tesco store opening, this site would later become Banbridge Retail Park when Home Bargains opened in 2016.[11][12]
In 2020, a major expansion of the retail park was announced with 3 phases, The Range, Marks & Spencer and EZ Living Interiors were announced to be tenants of phase 1 of the expansion. M&S and The Range opened in 2022 while EZ Living opened in 2023.[13][14][15]
In 2024, another expansion was announced which would serve as phase 2 and 3 respectively; 5 retail units, a garden centre and 3 restaurants were to be added to the retail park.[16]
In 2025, one of the units and the garden centre were announced to be leased to retailer B&M, who wanted to expand their unit and the garden centre which would take up some of the parking from a Game of Thrones experience nearby, the 3 restaurants were announced to be drive-thru's.[17]
The Gateway
The Bridgewater development expanded further in 2019 with the opening of a KFC restaurant behind The Boulevard, this area would be known as The Gateway. Like The Boulevard, the area is owned by Tristan Capital Partners and Lotus Property.[18][19]
The area quickly expanded from 2023 to 2025, with a Go motorway service and coffee drive-thru, a Starbucks drive-thru and an electric car charging station powered by Fastned.[20][21]
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