Legal & General Property (LGP) has agreed to acquire the Westgate leisure development project in Aldershot, south-west of London, and to provide development funding of £51 mln (EUR 58 mln) to the scheme in partnership with Citygrove Securities and Rushmoor Borough Council.
Legal & General Property (LGP) has agreed to acquire the Westgate leisure development project in Aldershot, south-west of London, and to provide development funding of £51 mln (EUR 58 mln) to the scheme in partnership with Citygrove Securities and Rushmoor Borough Council.
The purchase was made on behalf of LGP's Leisure Fund, after having completed a £42 mln equity raise from existing investors.
'This acquisition will enable the Leisure Fund to expand and develop its existing portfolio, and reflects our ongoing belief that there is significant value to be found in the leisure sector, which continues to offer long leases off lower base rents, providing an attractive alternative to some of the more traditional investment sectors,' said Andrew Ferguson, fund manager of the Leisure Fund.
On completion in autumn 2012, the Westgate will provide a 170,000 sq ft (15,800 m2) leisure and retail destination complex in Aldershot town centre. The scheme gained planning consent from Rushmoor Borough Council in May 2010 with construction due to commence in April 2011. The town is currently home to approximately 33,000 people, including a large military contingent, but with no current leisure offer and plans to consolidate the army's operations in Aldershot alongside Government targets to increase the town's housing by 4,000 new homes, LGP said.
Built on the site of a former 1960s car park, the scheme will be constructed on a deck platform so as to provide a 500-space car park at lower ground level. It will be anchored by a seven-screen multiplex Cineworld and a Morrisons supermarket, and will provide eight restaurant units and a 91-bed Travelodge hotel. Currently 95% pre-let, the restaurant operators include Frankie & Benny's and Pizza Express. The scheme has a high average lease length of 20 years until first break.
The deal marks the eighth acquisition for the Leisure Fund, which already has £230 mln of assets under management. The Leisure Fund Limited Partnership was formed in 2002 and holds prime leisure assets across the UK, including Millennium Leisure Park in Greenwich, London, the Leisure Exchange in Bradford, Aspects Leisure Park, just outside of Bristol, and Valley Centertainment in Sheffield.
