The Crown Estate has acquired Silverlink Shopping Park outside the city of Newcastle in the UK and agreed to fund the development of a leisure scheme in Milton Keynes.
The Crown Estate has acquired Silverlink Shopping Park outside the city of Newcastle in the UK and agreed to fund the development of a leisure scheme in Milton Keynes.
The manager of real estate assets owned by the British crown is investing a total of £163 mln (€194 mln) in the two schemes.
Combined, the projects add 30,000 m2 of new retail and leisure space to The Crown Estate's portfolio.
Silverlink has been acquired for £131 mln from LaSalle Investment Management. A deal has also been agreed with Inter MK, the development company of MK Dons Chairman Pete Winkelman, to fund the creation of MK1 Leisure Park in Milton Keynes for £25 mln.
This is the second time The Crown Estate has worked with Inter MK after funding the MK1 Shopping Park on the same site last year. The Crown Estate strengthened its holdings in Milton Keynes further by purchasing the DW health and fitness unit, located on the same site, for £7 mln from Inter MK.
Paul Clark, director of investment and asset management, said: 'Over recent years, shopping trends have led retail and leisure occupiers to increasingly consolidate into larger, more dominant schemes. This has driven our investment in prime retail assets outside of London, giving us confidence that these types of schemes can deliver strong returns, particularly when actively managed. Silverlink and the new MK1 Leisure Park will make fantastic additions to our portfolio.'
