London & Regional selected for Panama City scheme

Ian and Richard Livingstone’s London & Regional Properties (L&R) has been selected for one of the world’s largest development deals. The group has bought the 2,750-acre former Howard Air Force Base in Panama City, Central America for $705m (£359m). The deal marks a step change and catapults the firm’s development business into a world leader. Until last year, L&R had focussed on the UK, European and Russian development markets. The group said it regarded the Panama deal as a springboard for further expansion into the largely untapped property markets of Central and Latin America. The Howard site which overlooks the Panama Canal and Pacific Ocean is the equivalent in area to a single plot stretching from London’s Regents Park to the Oval Cricket Ground north to south and Sloane Square to London Bridge east to west. Howard was brought to the market by the AAEEPP, a department of the Government of Panama who were advised by the World Bank. L&R has prepared a phased forty-year masterplan for the site to deliver a 60m sq m new city district with an estimated end value of $7bn (£3.5bn). L&R’s plans include a range of residential accommodation; hotels; golf and leisure resorts; industrial zone; shopping mall; science park and campus style office park. L&R development director Jason Mills said: “We have ambitious plans to grow our development business still further. “We intend to seek further select acquisitions in the emerging markets of Central and South America.” The deal is subject to formal ratification by the Cabinet of the Panamanian Government next week.