Real estate investment firm British Land has purchased grocer Tesco‘s 50 per cent stake in shopping centre Surrey Quays for £48 million amid plans to upgrade the space, it has been announced today.
As a result of the purchase, the property company now owns 100 per cent of the South East London centre and as such outlined plans for a £38 million upgrade which will see some 100,000 sq feet of space added to the centre.
Surrey Quays is anchored by a 115,000 sq ft Tesco Extra and, as part of the deal, Tesco has signed on for a new long-term lease on its store and petrol station, increasing rgw centre‘s weighted average lease length to 9.4 years.
Charles Maudsley, Head of Retail at British Land, commented: “We intend to create a modern retail environment to attract the growing, affluent local catchment.
“We are aiming to take the scheme beyond its current functional shop by broadening the tenant mix and introducing larger retail units alongside a more attractive food offer.
“All this should increase overall spend.”
Investment opportunities in London and the South East are of particular interest to the firm, which also recently announced its acquisition of Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre for £180 million following a recent successful £493 million share placing.
Earlier this week, data from property advisory firm Savills revealed that shopping centre investment during Q1 of this year reached £1.43 billion, a 194 per cent rise on a year earlier and British Land CEO Chris Grigg believes that the company is well placed to strengthen the market further.
Grigg said: “British Land‘s scale, access to finance, extensive relationships and expertise in planning, asset management and deal execution put us in a strong position to continue to source attractive acquisitions and to deliver superior total returns for our shareholders.”
