THE owner of the Metrocentre and Eldon Square has bought the Federation Brewery site in Gateshead in a £3m deal.

Negotiations to buy the 17 acres next to Europe’s biggest shopping centre started earlier this year between Capital Shopping Centres (CSC) and Heineken, which owned the land.

CSC director of asset management, Martin Breeden, said: “The site also contains the Lancastrian Suite and a warehouse unit let to Thrifty Cars, and the big unoccupied Federation Brewery site. We think it is a really exciting opportunity.”

The former home of Newcastle Brown Ale was put up for sale with a £2m asking price in March last year, 10 months after it ceased production, ending an 82-year history of brewing ale in the region.

Heineken UK, the brewery’s owners, put it up for sale after moving production to Yorkshire.

CSC, which owns 15 major shopping centres around the UK, is currently looking at ways to add value to its malls to encourage shoppers to stay longer. Buying this land is part of the strategy but Breeden was unable to reveal exactly what CSC hopes to do with the site.

He said: “It’s too early to say what form it will take. It may take a little more time before we can talk about it.

“What we’re very conscious of is that we’ve got to provide a great experience for shoppers, a day out.