UK REIT Hammerson has announced it is acquiring a 25% stake in the 155-year head lease of the Whitgift Centre in the south London district of Croydon. The interest was purchased from pension group Royal London for £65 mln (EUR 80 mln).
UK REIT Hammerson has announced it is acquiring a 25% stake in the 155-year head lease of the Whitgift Centre in the south London district of Croydon. The interest was purchased from pension group Royal London for £65 mln (EUR 80 mln).
Hammerson said there was 'significant asset management and development potential' for both the centre and Croydon's wider retail core. The company already owns the adjacent Centrale shopping centre. In July Hammerson revealed plans for the Whitgift Quarter, a 150,000 m2 development which it said will again make Croydon one of the UK's leading shopping destinations.
The Whitgift Centre comprises 56,000 m2 of retail space and 37,000 m2 of offices (including Centre Tower).
Hammerson's expansion plans include up to 130,000 m2 of new retail and leisure space on the site of the Whitgift Centre, additional leisure space, and up to 500 residential units. Hammerson has already said it will extend and refurbish the Centrale shopping centre to create a family leisure quarter. That plan received planning permission in May.
Whitgift Quarter will incorporate the extended Centrale and a revitalised North End as well as the redeveloped Whitgift Centre site.
