The centre's early success at attracting huge numbers of shoppers, brought in by Runcorn's unique transportation system and its central location between Manchester and Liverpool, did not last as the owners at that time, Grosvenor, pushed rents up in an attempt to capitalise on the centre's popularity.
Spiralling rents soon saw many of the big names close and move to centres with lower rents.

The centre was bought by Fordgate Midland Properties Limited in January 1989 but a dispute arose about the property's condition at the time of sale.
The previous owners, Grosvenor, had contracted with Laing to encapsulate asbestos in the roof voids and decontaminate those areas in 1988.
This became the source of legal disputes between the three parties since Fordgate alleged that Grosvenor had, in the words of Lord Justice Saville, "fraudulently or negligently misrepresented the true condition of the premises so that the Appellants were induced to purchase the premises, believing them to contain treated and encapsulated asbestos when, in fact, the roof voids were dreadfully...contaminated with loose asbestos fibre".

Fordgate undertook significant works to remove asbestos, replace and lower the original suspended ceiling, block up sky lights and replace damaged floor tiles and expansion joints, culminating with a rebranding in 1995 to Halton Lea Shopping Centre.
In 1999, Fordgate used vacant land to the south of the centre, which had originally been intended for leisure and cultural use, to create a 217,393 sq ft (20,196.5 m²) outdoor shopping park named Trident Retail Park, including a 9-screen cinema complex.

In 1989, expansion land which had been set aside to the west of the centre was used to open a 90,000 sq ft (8,400 m²) Asda superstore, later extended to 106,000 sq ft (9,800 m²) and joined by a McDonald's restaurant.

Halton Lea was taken into receivership in September 2009 which was managed by Savills, though the centre continued to operate as normal.
In September 2010, the centre was put up for sale and on 24 March 2011 it was announced that the centre had been sold to F&C Reit (since rebranded BMO Real Estate Partners) for approximately £29.1 million using an offshore company, Runcorn One Ltd, registered in Guernsey.

However, Fordgate retained ownership of one of the four multi-storey car parks and, in August 2011, attained planning permission to build a 148,348 sq ft superstore adjoining the shopping centre in place of the multi-storey car park, East Lane House and a Territorial Army Centre.
Fordgate had said they would pay for a replacement TA Centre elsewhere in the town and the plan was approved by Halton Borough Council, despite objections from the new owners of the Shopping City.
The scheme did not go ahead and by November 2014 the fourth car park was also under the ownership of BMO.
Trident Retail Park was also sold separately from the enclosed shopping centre and in April 2014 was acquired by KWE.
The centre's early success at attracting huge numbers of shoppers, brought in by Runcorn's unique transportation system and its central location between Manchester and Liverpool, did not last as the owners at that time, Grosvenor, pushed rents up in an attempt to capitalise on the centre's popularity. Spiralling rents soon saw many of the big names close and move to centres with lower rents.
The centre was bought by Fordgate Midland Properties Limited in January 1989 but a dispute arose about the property's condition at the time of sale. The previous owners, Grosvenor, had contracted with Laing to encapsulate asbestos in the roof voids and decontaminate those areas in 1988. This became the source of legal disputes between the three parties since Fordgate alleged that Grosvenor had, in the words of Lord Justice Saville, "fraudulently or negligently misrepresented the true condition of the premises so that the Appellants were induced to purchase the premises, believing them to contain treated and encapsulated asbestos when, in fact, the roof voids were dreadfully...contaminated with loose asbestos fibre".
Fordgate undertook significant works to remove asbestos, replace and lower the original suspended ceiling, block up sky lights and replace damaged floor tiles and expansion joints, culminating with a rebranding in 1995 to Halton Lea Shopping Centre. In 1999, Fordgate used vacant land to the south of the centre, which had originally been intended for leisure and cultural use, to create a 217,393 sq ft (20,196.5 m²) outdoor shopping park named Trident Retail Park, including a 9-screen cinema complex.
In 1989, expansion land which had been set aside to the west of the centre was used to open a 90,000 sq ft (8,400 m²) Asda superstore, later extended to 106,000 sq ft (9,800 m²) and joined by a McDonald's restaurant.
Halton Lea was taken into receivership in September 2009 which was managed by Savills, though the centre continued to operate as normal. In September 2010, the centre was put up for sale and on 24 March 2011 it was announced that the centre had been sold to F&C Reit (since rebranded BMO Real Estate Partners) for approximately £29.1 million using an offshore company, Runcorn One Ltd, registered in Guernsey.
However, Fordgate retained ownership of one of the four multi-storey car parks and, in August 2011, attained planning permission to build a 148,348 sq ft superstore adjoining the shopping centre in place of the multi-storey car park, East Lane House and a Territorial Army Centre. Fordgate had said they would pay for a replacement TA Centre elsewhere in the town and the plan was approved by Halton Borough Council, despite objections from the new owners of the Shopping City. The scheme did not go ahead and by November 2014 the fourth car park was also under the ownership of BMO. Trident Retail Park was also sold separately from the enclosed shopping centre and in April 2014 was acquired by KWE.
Runcorn Shopping City