Lend Lease has bought the development rights to the £90m Touchwood Court retail scheme in Solihull, to the south of Birmingham, and pre-let the department store to John Lewis Partnership (JLP).
JLP has been looking for a site in the West Midlands for many years. The news that it has decided on Solihull will be a blow to Hammerson and Land Securities which had each hoped to attract JLP to their rival schemes in Birmingham city centre.
Lend Lease, which forged a close relationship with JLP at its Bluewater shopping centre in Kent where the department store is an anchor, has bought out IM Properties interest in Touchwood Court.
IMPs partner, Gracemount Developments, will continue to be involved but Allan Chisholm, a director of Lend Lease, said the design of the scheme, the architects and letting agents would all be reviewed.
EGi News 30/01/98
