The £135m extension of Fosse shopping park in Leicester is poised to begin following the completion of the Crown Estate and Gingko Tree’s acquisition of an adjoining site.
The Crown Estate and Gingko Tree, through the Fosse Partnership joint venture, have completed the acquisition of a 12.5-acre site adjacent to Fosse Park shopping park, paving the way for an expansion that has been planned since 2015.
It bought the Castle Acre site from Everards. The Fosse Partnership can now start on its planned £135m expansion of the shopping park.
The extension will comprise 288,000 sq ft of additional retail and leisure space. Plans for the park were originally put forward by retailer Next and Everards and were approved by Blaby District Council at the end of 2016.
The Fosse Partnership has been in discussions to acquire the plot since 2015, when it agreed to buy the site conditional on planning for the extension being approved.
Everards of Leicestershire, a family-owned brewer and pub operator founded in 1849, had based its brewery, office and logistics at Castle Acres for more than 30 years. Everards is relocating to two new sites, Everards Meadows and Optimus Point, and will provide vacant possession of Castle Acres before Christmas.
The planning process for the redevelopment was led by Everards and supported by Next, which will be taking a 90,000 sq ft three-story store in the scheme.
The Castle Acres scheme is almost 60% prelet, with other confirmed tenants including Debenhams, TK Maxx and Clarks.
Fosse Park was originally acquired by the Crown and Gingko Tree in 2014 when they paid £345.5m for the site and subsequently created the Fosse Partnership.
In the past year, the partnership has invested £12.7m in Fosse Park to enhance the offer and experience for retailers and their customers.
New brands including Pandora, Primark, Superdrug and JD Sports have agreed new leases at the park since it was bought by Gingko and the Crown.
Hannah Milne, director of regional retail at the Crown Estate, said: “The combination of retail and leisure, and the quality experience that Castle Acres will provide, is what local customers have told us they want and is also a major vote of confidence for Leicester.”
Richard Everard, chairman of Everards said: “Having already established our new logistics centre at Glenfield, Leicestershire we now look forward to developing Everards Meadows. The build programme, commencing in early 2018 will include a Everards office and brewery, destination food and drink units and a cycling centre. We look forward to all of these developments further strengthening our family business for this and successive generations”
Work will commence on site in early 2018.
To send feedback, e-mail amber.rolt@egi.co.uk or tweet @AmberRoltEG or @estatesgazette
