In the current environment, with emphasis on mixed-use regeneration, the Merrion Centre with its wide ranging offer and inspiration from American Shopping malls, was clearly ahead of its time. Recently, a substantial investment has been made by Luminar Leisure who reopened the original “Ballroom” and turned it into the Oceana Nightclub at a cost of almost £7m in November 2005.

In June 2007 the most ambitious referbishment of the entire centre began with phase one work to the Woodhouse Lane elevation.

The Merrion Centre extends to over 800,000 sq ft Gross Internal Area (74,322 sq m of accommodation). Over half of this space consists of retail and leisure with the rest being offices situated in Merrion House, Wade House and Town Centre House.  Accommodation also comprises 100 bedroom Hotel and a multi-storey car par with 1100 car parking spaces.  The Merrion Centre occupies a sizeable 6.5 acre island site incorporating Morrisons has the only Supermarket in the City Centre of Leeds.  Morrisons is 45,000 sq ft (4,180 sq m) and includes 129 car-parking spaces.  A plan of the Merrion Centre appears elsewhere on this site under the ‘map’ heading.  

Key retailers in The Merrion Centre include:  Woolworths, Boots, Thorntons, Priceless, Claires Accessories, Superdrug, Peacocks, Jessops, O2, 3 Store, Costa Coffee and Birthdays. Recent openings include Bayliffe and Lupton, T Shirt Print, Modelzone (relocation) Nevisport, Nosh, Greggs second shop Herb Medic and Sainsburys Local - their first in Leeds City.  

North of the Merrion Centre are numerous office buildings including Yorkshire Bank and Halifax Bank of Scotland PLC. To the North West are the University of Leeds and Leeds Metropolitan University, between them accommodate over 100,000 students. 

Adjacent to the Merrion Centre are the leisure and nightlife venues of Felicinis, Tiger Tiger, Jongleurs and Millennium Square together with our own Oceana Nightclub and bars. The Merrion Centre is predominately on one single level.  An up only escalator, three staircases and a disabled lift lead to the upper level which has a series of niche service style shops as well as the entrance into the Wade House office buildings.  

The speciality shops of the Georgian Mall are located towards the rear of the Merrion Centre.