Job search
Job Search
Latest news
More news: (showing 1 - 20 of 13727)           
UK only International

Westfield gets permission for £1bn retail and leisure development in Croydon

By Chris Dodd    02 Dec 2013
The project is expected to be completed by 2018

Australian developer Westfield has secured permission to build a £1bn (US$1.8bn, €1.21bn) mega retail and leisure facility in Croydon, London after the firm was granted approval from the local council and Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

The project is being developed by Westfield with UK partner Hammerson, which owns the Brent Cross shopping centre in north London.

To be completed by 2018, the transformation of the Whitgift Centre is thought to have the potential to create 5,000 new jobs and entice 40 million people to visit the area each year.

Plans include the use of 1.5 million sq ft (139,354sq m) of development space, with the new facility also helping to rejuvenate the nearby Centrale shopping centre, which has planning consent for refurbishment.

The project is part of a wider Croydon Partnership programme, which is looking to transform the local area.

Support comes from Johnson as he seeks to help develop the town, which was at the centre of the 2011 London riots, with the new mega-mall potentially spurring the creation of 600 new homes.

The site is also set to feature leisure and office space, in combination with room for leading retailers.

The project was approved by Croydon Council's Strategic Planning Committee, despite pockets of resistance – mostly notably from rival developer and property firm Minerva.

Minerva owns a small lot on the site and made clear that it did not want to sell its land, having made a late objection to the scheme, which claimed that Westfield did not appear to include enough parking to allow for further regeneration schemes in the area. However, the objection was dismissed.

“In terms of scale, what we’re delivering here is in total larger than what we currently have at either Stratford or west London,” said John Burton, Westfield’s director of development.

“The intention is to be a pace setter here and more widely in Europe. This will be the absolute top of the tree.”

The retail centre will be Westfield’s third in London, with other developments also located in Shepherd's Bush and Stratford.

More information on the project, the Croydon Partnership and the area’s development is available here

Sign up for FREE ezines

Company profile

Company profile: PSLT Ltd
PSLT Fitness Solutions manufacture, remanufacture and buy back commercial gym equipment. We supply and maintain gym equipment such as Precor, Technogym, Life Fitness and Matrix to a large number of leisure centres, fire services and local authorities.
View full profile >
More company profiles

Featured Supplier

Sprung Gym-Flooring: leading fitness flooring provider paves the way for top performance
Introducing Sprung Gym-Flooring, where innovation meets excellence in the world of flooring and sports solutions.
View full details >
More featured suppliers

Property & Tenders

Location: Loughton, IG10
Company: Knight Frank
Location: Grantham, Leicestershire
Company: Belvoir Castle
Location: Verwood, Dorset
Company: AVISON YOUNG
Location: Hall Place House, Bexley, DA5 1PQ
Company: London Borough of Bexley
Location: 15 Concessions across the nation's forests
Company: Forestry England
More properties & tenders

Diary dates

11-14 Apr 2024
Exhibition Centre , Cologne, Germany
22-24 Apr 2024
Galgorm Resort, York
10-12 May 2024
China Import & Export Fair Complex, Guangzhou, China
23-24 May 2024
Large Hall of the Chamber of Commerce (Erbprinzenpalais), Wiesbaden, Germany
More diary dates