The man behind the UK’s first pop-up mall, Boxpark in Shoreditch, E1, is hatching expansion plans.
Founder Roger Wade, who opened the mall built of sea ?containers in December 2011, has appointed CWM to look ?for urban sites with high ?footfall in London and the ?South East.
Boxpark has also appointed New York-based RKF to expand the concept in the US. Wade said the firm was already in negotiations for sites in Manhattan and Los Angeles.
The expansion announcement came despite Wade admitting that the Shoreditch scheme, which comprises 60 units let on short-term leases, had taken time to succeed.
Boxpark first attempted an overseas expansion via a partnership with Dutch shopping centre investor Corio in 2011. However, plans for the scheme in Amsterdam collapsed in May this year.
Corio said it pulled out of the project as it could not make it work “in the current difficult economic circumstances”.
Wade said: “It was a blessing in disguise for us because it has allowed us to focus on Boxpark Shoreditch, getting our proposition right.”
• Read a full profile in Estates Gazette’s Retail supplement on 7 September
