Intu - comment
Bluewater shopping centre, owned by a consortium including LandSec, M&G Real Estate, Royal London and Aberdeen Standard Investments have applied to the local council (Dartford) to convert some of the retail spaces into leisure space including restaurants and bars. The planning application is to convert a further 9,700m2 (approximately 7% of total space) into leisure space, of which approximately 50% of space is currently vacant. The remaining tenants will largely be transferred to other vacant spaces in the shopping centre.
This is a continuation of the trend of shopping centres refocusing on the leisure market, away from traditional retail units. LandSec have not disclosed the required capital expenditure yet.
Note, there was a partial equity sale of this asset in December 2021 at 8.15% initial yield. (LandSec purchased an additional 25% from Lendlease Retail, the Australian construction and Property Company, but subsequently partially sold its co-owner, M&G.