Hammerson's Union Square development in Aberdeen has reached a significant milestone with the completion of Phase One of the project.

Marked by the opening of Aberdeen Railway Station's state-of-the-art travel centre, this sees the development on track for completion and opening in Autumn, 2009.

The £250m retail-led development in the heart of the city will bring together a unique mix of retail and leisure facilities under one roof. The 700,000 sqft development will incorporate retail and catering units, a 10-screen cinema with approximately 2,400 seats and a 203-bedroom hotel offering much-needed facilities for the tourism, business and conference sectors.

It is also integrated with the city's new transport hub, the main railway and bus station. To complement the sustainable public transport facilities, 1700 car parking spaces will provide a boost to city centre parking, with 1,200 places in the development's multi-storey and ground-level car park and 500 in College Street car park, which is shared with First Scotrail.

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Guy Wells, development manager for Hammerson, said: "When complete, Union Square will become an integral part of Aberdeen's city centre landscape and offer a unique blend of retail and leisure facilities, making it a destination of choice for people from Aberdeen City, the Shire and beyond.

"This development is one of the biggest city centre retail led regeneration schemes in Scotland and the new transport hub will see in excess of two and a half million passengers pass through the facility each year."

The next phase of the development will include the refurbishment of part of the railway station building in conjunction with ground works and steel work for the hotel, shopping mall and retail park elements of the scheme.

Union Square is part of a wider regeneration programme underway in Aberdeen. A 500,000 sq ft office development is planned in the area directly adjacent to Union Square and this will lead to the formation of a new business district for the city.

(GK/JM)