L&G buys Aldershot leisure scheme
Published: 21 March, 2011
Legal & General Property’s leisure fund has agreed to forward fund the Westgate leisure development in Aldershot with Citygrove Securities and Rushmoor Borough Council for £51m
On completion, The Westgate will provide a 170,000-sq ft leisure and retail destination complex in Aldershot town centre. The 9-acre island site is located within a three minute walk from Aldershot’s retail core, via the pedestrianised Upper Union Street. The scheme successfully gained planning consent from Rushmoor Borough Council in May 2010 with construction due to commence in April 2011. On completion, which is targeted for Autumn 2012, the scheme will not only provide the town with its first leisure offer but support its much needed regeneration.
The scheme will be constructed on a deck platform with a 500-space car park at lower ground level. Arranged around an open-air piazza, it will be anchored by a seven-screen multiplex Cineworld and a Morrisons supermarket, as well as providing eight restaurant units and a 91-bed Travelodge hotel. Currently 95 per cent pre-let, the restaurant operators include Frankie & Benny’s, Pizza Express, Prezzo, Harvester, Subway and The Real China
The deal marks the eighth acquisition for the Leisure Fund, which already has £230m of assets under management. Fund manager Andrew Ferguson said: “The Westgate represents a good opportunity to acquire a prime town centre leisure development scheme that will provide the long awaited catalyst for Aldershot’s regeneration.
