Broxbourne Borough Council and Hertfordshire County Council have chosen Sovereign Centros as their development partner for a £400m mixed-use scheme at Brookfield Riverside, Cheshunt.
Draft plans for the Hertfordshire site include up to 230,000 sq ft of retail; 250,000 sq ft of leisure, including a cinema and hotel; 100,000 sq ft offices, including a new civic centre; 250 new homes including senior living units, and a new road.
The site forms part of a larger, 330-acre development known as Brookfield, which will see 1,250 new homes constructed in the adjacent Brookfield Garden Village.
The appointment follows a competitive tendering exercise run by Cushman & Wakefield.
Lewis Cocking, leader of Broxbourne Borough Council, said: “This will be one of the most exciting projects that has been seen in Broxbourne for many years.
“It will provide an opportunity for local people to access a range of leisure facilities, including a cinema, as well as jobs, homes and shopping closer to home; all in a high-quality, sustainable location.”
David Williams, leader of Hertfordshire County Council, said: “Both the Riverside and Brookfield Garden Village developments are great examples of how we’re preparing to put the infrastructure in place to make our residents’ lives even better.
“We could have 175,000 more people living in Hertfordshire by 2031, so we must be ready to support them by addressing key issues such as transport, schools and healthcare services.”
Chris Geaves, chief executive of Sovereign Centros, said: “This is an amazing opportunity to develop in a very underdeveloped and untapped segment of the country on the edge of London to create a development that is really different to that anywhere else in the UK.
“The mixed-use nature of the scheme will be hugely appealing and, in particular, it will recognise and address how retail and leisure is changing and provide something that is appropriate and relevant but equally exciting.”
Paul Ellis, partner at Cushman & Wakefield, said “This demonstrates that, despite the well-rehearsed challenges in the retail and leisure sectors at present, there remains strong interest in retail and leisure development, provided they are incorporated in the right overall scheme concept, that the opportunity itself has the right ingredients for success and is structured in the right way.”
Cushman & Wakefield has been retained to support the councils in implementing both Riverside and Brookfield projects, while Lyons Sleeman Hoare is the architect.
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