Basildon regeneration hangs in balance after BL/Lend Lease pulls out

  British Land and Lend Lease have become the third shortlisted consortium to pull out of the £1.25bn regeneration of Basildon town centre, leavnig a single party in the running.   The developers this week walked away from the 20-year public-private partnership which proposes 530,000 sq ft of shops and leisure, 600,000 sq ft of offices and 3,650 homes in the Essex town.   The consortium, which had been the favourite to take on the project, blamed the economic downturn for its decision.   Wilson Bowden and its parent company Barratt Homes is the only consortium still in dialogue with local regeneration body Basildon Renaissance Partnership, despite Barratt being in the midst of selling its town-centre development arm.   British Land/Lend Lease’s decision comes almost a year after Quintain Estates & Development and Taylor Wimpey dropped out, followed by John Laing and Gladedale last summer. Basildon Renaissance Partnership launched its search for a development partner in June 2007 and had intended to make a selection last June.   A spokesperson for British Land/Lend Lease said: “Unfortunately, the economic situation and our commitments elsewhere in the UK have led us take the decision to withdraw from the process. We wish Basildon council well with this project.”   Ian Butt, the council’s development project director, said: “It is unfortunate that the Joint Venture Partnership is unable able to continue in the procurement process.   “These are very testing times for the industry and regeneration projects. We are pleased that we are able to continue our dialogue with Barratt/Wilson Bowden.”   EG revealed, last December, that British Land was reviewing its interest in Basildon. The firm was considering selling its 757,000 sq ft Eastgate Centre, following bids of around £120m for the shopping mall – which BL bought for £72m in 1994.   daniel.cunningham@rbi.co.uk