"[1] Planning permission for the Sainsbury's store was granted in early February 1996 and construction by John Laing Group began with a groundbreaking ceremony a week later.

The total floor space of the centre is 250,000 square feet (23,000 m2), the southern part of the which stands on the site of the Supermac supermarket.

The architects of the centre took advantage of the large east–west gradient of the site to build underground car parking and service access.

Sainsbury's opened a petrol filling station at the same time as the supermarket, on the site of the demolished Drumkeen Hotel.

In October 1997, Sainsbury's announced the forward sale of Forestside to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) for approximately £50m.

[10] This involved remodelling, the addition of a second floor to add 22,000 sq ft (2,000 m2) and a multi-storey car park.