Re Joint Venture

Capital & Regional PLC 15 March 2001 Capital & Regional plc CAPITAL & REGIONAL AND STANNIFER FORM JOINT VENTURE TO OWN AND DEVELOP SAUCHIEHALL CENTRE, GLASGOW Capital & Regional plc, the specialist retail and leisure property investment company, has entered into a 50:50 joint venture with Stannifer, the investment and development group, to re-develop the 16,722 sq m (180,000 sq ft) Sauchiehall Centre on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow. The initial value of the property to the joint venture, Sauchiehall Centre Ltd, is £31 million and the whole project is part financed jointly by the Bank of Scotland and Bank of Ireland. The re-development will create an increase in the centre's retail space by 10%, to approximately 18,580 sq m (200,000 sq ft). This will be achieved by removing all the malls and converting the space to form large retail units. Each store will have entrances directly on to the prime retail pitch of Sauchiehall Street, directly opposite Marks & Spencer/Boots and diagonally across from the recently opened Dunnes department store. New retailers and record rents achieved in Buchanan Street have enhanced further this pedestrianised section of Sauchiehall Street. The majority of newly created space will be taken by Primark, as part of a major new 6,308 sq m (67,566 sq ft) store. This will be the fashion retailer's first store in Glasgow City centre and is planned to open in April 2002. Sauchiehall Centre Ltd will be working with TK Maxx to reconfigure its current trading area, which will be increased to 3,639 sq m (39,171 sq ft). Access to the store will be through a new high profile entrance on to Sauchiehall Street. The remaining space will be used to create a series of store extensions for existing retailers, including Superdrug, which will be trading from an extended store of 836 sq m (9,000 sq ft). WH Smith has signed a new 15 year lease for a 1,563 sq m (16,829 sq ft) store, which will incorporate a new store format and will be consolidated on to one floor (previously on two levels). WH Smith, TK Maxx, Superdrug and other existing tenants will continue to trade throughout the redevelopment programme. Ken Ford, Managing Director of Shopping Centres, Capital & Regional's said: 'This is a very exciting project for us and we welcome Stannifer as our joint venture partner. The re-development is planned to regenerate the centre converting unoccupied space to income generating retail area, in contemporary formats required by our retailers.' Ron Barrott, Chairman and Chief Executive of Stannifer, commented: 'We recognise the commercial opportunity created by the strong footfall of this prime retail pitch. This will undoubtedly improve further with the opening of retailers introduced to the new format of the scheme. This is a high quality development that will benefit from the combined expertise of Stannifer and Capital & Regional.' Brian Johnston, Head of Corporate Banking for Bank of Scotland and Stephen Kirkpatrick, Head of Corporate Banking for Bank of Ireland have said: 'We are delighted to be a part of this project, which will revitalise an important shopping destination within the heart of Glasgow.' Notes to editors: 1. Capital & Regional plc has a current UK retail and leisure portfolio valued at over £800m, totalling over 650,558 sq m (7 million sq ft). The Company acquired the Sauchiehall Centre in June 1997. Other tenants at the centre include Clinton Cards, Vodafone, Ocho Pub, Supasnaps, Royal Bank of Scotland, JJB Sports, Millets and Healthland Partnership. 2. Agent acting on behalf of Capital & Regional plc was Montagu Evans. For further information about Capital & Regional plc please contact: Ken Ford, Managing Director, Shopping Centres on 0207 932 8000 Sarah Carrell, Head of Corporate Communications on 020 7932 8000 Stannifer's £1 billion development programme totals over 350,000 sq m (3.8 million sq ft). Schemes include: * Abbey Retail Park, Newtownabbey, 18,580 sq m (200,000 sq ft) * The Brewery, Romford, 46,450 sq m (500,000 sq ft) * Union Square, Aberdeen, 51,095 sq m (550,000 sq ft) * Sprucefield, Lisburn, 21,367 sq m (230,000 sq ft) * Centre West, East Kilbride, 23,225 sq m (250,000 sq ft) * Rushmere, Craigavon, Northern Ireland, 27,870 sq m (300,000 sq ft) For further information about Stannifer please contact: Mark Simmons or Linda Welch at Cadenza Communications on 020 7436 4466.
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