Holywood Exchange

Like the expansion of the Sprucefield Development, Holywood Exchange has been controversial and the subject of repeated planning problems and legal disputes.

Sainsbury's Holywood Exchange opened in September 2003 with a sales area of 3,809 m2 (41,000 ft2)[8] The retail warehouse units were not let after completion; they are "the subject of strict guidelines that dictate that only bulky goods can be sold" as a result of the legal challenges to its construction.

In May 2008, however, The Irish News reported that The Planning Service "is considering an application that would see the addition of a mezzanine floor in the retail warehouse."

The paper named Harvey Norman, Next, TK Maxx and British Home Stores as likely tenants, all of which sell electric and/or homeware goods.

[14] Heating is provided by a 1.2 MW biomass boiler fuelled by locally produced woodchips.

[18][19] The developers of the Holywood Exchange were able to take advantage of existing road connections, the most important element of which was a flyover on the A2, already built for access to the Belfast Harbour Estate.

There were proposals for a railway halt to serve both Holywood Exchange and the adjacent Belfast City Airport.

On 16 January 2007, the Regional Development Minister David Cairns announced that a feasibility study would be launched into the construction of a rapid transit route linking Holywood Exchange to Belfast City Centre.