Redevelopment Milestone at Harmsworth Quays

RNS Number : 5079B

British Land Co PLC

04 April 2013

 



British Land Reaches Key Milestone in the Redevelopment of Harmsworth Quays

The first step has been taken to allow the redevelopment of the 14.57 acre Harmsworth Quays printing works site in Canada Water, South East London to go ahead. Southwark Council has given its approval for the Daily Mail General Trust (DMGT) to assign its leasehold interest in the site to British Land.

The decision is a key milestone for the development which has the potential to deliver significant improvements to the local area.

British Land will now begin working up proposals in consultation with Southwark Council and the local community to realise the full potential of this important site. Vacant possession of the site will be available later this year following the relocation of DMGT's printing operations to Thurrock.

Southwark Council, which is currently developing policy to guide the redevelopment, will be adopting a preferred option of its Area Action Plan in May for consultation. This will emphasise the council's and community's vision to create a mixed-use town centre at Canada Water.

British Land has a long term interest and investment in the area, both from its joint venture with the council at Canada Water, a major regeneration zone in Southwark, and through its ownership of  Surrey Quays Shopping Centre. At Surrey Quays British Land is planning a £38 million investment, including an extensive refurbishment of the existing centre and a 100,000 sq ft extension, along with improvements to the public spaces and connections to Surrey Quays and Canada Water tube and bus stations.

Both Southwark Council and British Land have committed to exploring the potential to create a new campus for Kings College as part of the scheme, to complement their proposals for the adjoining site at the Mulberry Business Park.

Nigel Webb, Head of Development for British Land, said:

"We are delighted that the London Borough of Southwark has agreed the assignment for Harmsworth Quays. We can now begin the process of working with the local community, the London Borough of Southwark and other key stakeholders to bring forward a new, mixed use development in the heart of Canada Water.

"We have demonstrated our long term commitment to Southwark through our interests and investments in the area, both as part of BL Canada Quays bringing regeneration around Canada Water Station and at Surrey Quays Shopping Centre. We believe the Harmsworth Quays site is a fantastic opportunity to deliver the ambition of the Canada Water masterplan and we look forward to working with the London Borough of Southwark to develop the emerging Area Action Plan."

David Dutton, Director for DMGT, said:

"After many successful years at Harmsworth Quays, DMGT is delighted to be transferring its interests in the site over to British Land.  The redevelopment of our printing plant provides an exciting opportunity for the area and we are confident British Land is ideally placed to deliver what the area needs."

Cllr Fiona Colley, Cabinet Member for Regeneration at Southwark Council, said:

 "Rotherhithe has seen some great improvements over the last few years including the new Canada Water library and better transport links thanks to the new London Overground service. We want to keep the momentum going by ensuring that land is put to really good use."

She continued:
"In addition to new homes, the redevelopment of Harmsworth Quays has the potential to deliver the town centre and jobs that Rotherhithe really needs. I'm delighted that British Land have also agreed to work with the Council to explore whether we can build a new campus for Kings College London on the site, which is something I know would be welcomed locally."

Enquiries:

Investor Relations

Sally Jones, British Land                                    020 7467 2942

Media 

Pip Wood, British Land                                       020 7467 2838

Jackie Whitaker, British Land                              020 7467 3449

Gordon Simpson, Finsbury Group                        020 7251 3801

Guy Lamming, Finsbury Group

Notes to Editors

About British Land

British Land is one of Europe's largest Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) with total assets, owned or managed, of £16.3 billion (British Land share £10.4 billion), as valued at 30 September 2012. Through our property and finance expertise we attract experienced partners to create properties and environments which are home to over 1,000 different organisations and receive over 300 million visits each year. Our property portfolio is focused on prime retail locations and Central London offices which attract high quality occupiers committed to long leases. Our UK occupancy rate of 97.7% and average lease length to first break of 11 years are among the highest of the major UK REITs.

Retail assets account for 60% of our portfolio with around 28 million sq ft of retail space across 82 retail parks, 92 superstores, 13 shopping centres and 9 department stores. The retail portfolio is modern, flexible and adaptable to a wide range of formats and our active asset management delivers space which is attractive and meets the needs of both retailers and consumers. 80% of our retail parks have open A1 consent.

London offices, located in the City and West End, comprise 35% of the portfolio (which will rise to an estimated 40% on completion of current developments). Our 7 million sq ft of high quality offices includes Broadgate, the premier City office campus (50% share) and Regent's Place in the West End. Over the last 2 years, we have committed £1.2 billion to create Central London's largest committed office development programme which will deliver 2.3 million sq ft of high quality space by 2014, including a 700,000 sq ft building at 5 Broadgate, the 610,000 sq ft Leadenhall Building in London's insurance district and a 500,000 sq ft mixed office and residential scheme at Regent's Place in the West End.

Managing our environmental, economic and social impacts is central to the way we do business and deliver value for our shareholders. We assess the issues that matter most to us and our stakeholders on an on-going basis and, where appropriate, adjust our strategic focus to reflect this. We focus on managing our buildings efficiently, supporting communities, developing sustainable buildings and engaging our staff. For each of these priorities we are targeting our efforts and resources at initiatives where we can achieve the biggest impacts.

Further details can be found on the British Land website at www.britishland.com.

 

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