The current owner Hermes had planned to spend £70 million investing in a complete overhaul of the shopping centre which would have included building a cinema plus many new shops and restaurants. This had originally been planned to start earlier this year but was postponed until 2018 due to planning issues over proposed changes to the entrance.
Instead there may now be no extension or just a further postponement as the UK developer British Land is reportedly close to completing the purchase of Royal Victoria Place.
British Land, the prospective purchasers of Royal Victoria Place are one of the UK's biggest property developers with an extensive portfolio of properties worth at least £13 billion, which includes the famous "Cheesegrater" building in the City of London. If the centre is sold to by Hermes to British Land, then the new owners will have the opportunity to invest further in their new property and still go ahead with the proposed extension to the shopping centre and add at least 10 new shops or restaurants.
Questions have been raised about whether the fact that there are a large number of shops empty in the shopping centre is related to the proposed extension. The fact that Hermes may have sold Royal Victoria Place is not supposed to be related to any difficulties involving the company but is said to be part of their long term overall investment strategy.
News in the same category
When the largest food chain in the UK takes such a bold stance, it’s usually a sign the times are indeed changing.
The Let Toys Be Toys Association has just reached an agreement with the Toys’R’Us toy store chain over gendered marketing. The giant has just announced the progressive suppression of separate boy/girl sections.
With the run up to the holiday season approaching, the financial future is currently looking much brighter for Walmart.
February 2019 will see Zara open their biggest store ever, in Essex. Zara will be increasing the size of their existing shop at the Intu Lakeside shopping centre, meaning that they will not take up an area of 35,000 square foot.
