Westfield Stratford City 95% let
Published: 17 August, 2011
Westfield Stratford City, the £1.45bn retail and leisure scheme at the gateway to the Olympic Park, is 95 per cent leased or committed in time for its opening on September 13.
The scheme will be the largest urban shopping centre in Europe. It will be anchored by John Lewis, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and VUE Entertainment with other retailers including The Sting, Forever 21, Uniqlo, Hollister and Superdry.
“We are extremely pleased at how well the Stratford project has leased up,” said Westfield Group CEO Steven Lowry. “We have assembled an exceptional tenancy mix which has more than exceeded our vision, particularly for fashion, food, entertainment and leisure, and it will be the next chapter in retail development for London.”
This early success comes after Westfield Group announced that sales at Westfield London for were up approximately 20 per cent for the first six months of the year and that the centre is on track to achieve annual sales of almost £1bn in 2011.
Building on its global portfolio, Westfield is expanding into continental Europe with an agreement to acquire a 50 per cent interest in a major development site in Milan, Italy. The 60-hectare site adjacent to Milan’s Linate airport, is being acquired in joint venture with Gruppo Stilo (GS), and has planning approval to develop a world class iconic regional shopping center similar in scale and quality to Westfield London.
The Chairman of Westfield Group, Frank Lowy AC said: “This announcement is another significant step in the expansion of our business globally. It follows our announcement regarding the World Trade Centre opportunity in New York last week and our entry into Brazil earlier this week.
“This acquisition represents a unique long term opportunity, notwithstanding the volatile financial markets at present, to establish our franchise in one of the wealthiest population centers in Europe. We believe that this site represents one of, if not the, best shopping center development opportunities in continental Europe.”
