Burford Holdings has gained planning consent to convert vacant offices at London’s Trocadero into a £45m indoor theme park in a joint venture with Sega Europe. Work will start immediately. 100,000 sq ft (9,290 m2) of offices will be converted, and the centre should be open next summer.
Chief executive Nick Leslau denied that Burford, worth £300m, was moving into the leisure market. “We are in property, not leisure, but we will look at property let to leisure tenants if the use is not cyclical,” he said.
Segaworld, as the development will be known, will be Europe’s largest indoor theme park, offering a sports zone, interactive rides, themed restaurants and shopping.
Burford will also carry out a series of refurbishments to the fabric. The external facades will be renovated, while the atrium will be extended to the full height of the building. RTKL UK is the architect.
Burford acquired the 410,000 sq ft (38,089 m2) Trocadero for £94m last September.
