KINGSWAY Shopping Centre has been sold to an unnamed buyer.

The leasehold for the city centre complex has been sold for £615,000 following a live streamed auction on Thursday, September 21 - well short of the £1 million guide price.

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

The sale includes Sovereign House, a vacant office building above the shopping levels.

The property generates almost £1.2 million in annual gross rent.

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.

Newport City Council currently asks for £150,000 per annum in rent until June 2025, with a usual minimum rent of £265,000 per annum subject to annual reviews.

Commercial property expert Dan Smith suggests the new ownership should seek an “interesting tenant mix” in order to attract and hold shoppers in an age of online commerce and high street demise.

"At present, Newport lacks adequate leisure activities within the city centre and there is a clear opportunity to help address this with some of the larger vacant spaces within the Kingsway,” said Mr Smith, suggesting that No Comply Skate Park, currently in Friars Walk, could find the “perfect solution” for a larger space in the space left by Wilko’s at Kingsway.

Newport City Council and Newport Now Business Improvement District also point toward the need for a greater variety of consumer experiences in the city centre.

Commercial property auctioneers Acuitus, describe the property as "situated within the heart of Newport City Centre with its main entrance fronting the busy John Frost Square opposite Friars Walk Shopping Centre".