Westfield Stratford City opens
Published: 13 September, 2011
The Westfield Group has launched its most ambitious project to date in East London.
The £1.8bn Westfield Stratford City retail project will be the gateway to the London 2012 Olympic Park and is the largest urban shopping centre in Europe.
The 1.9m sq ft development is anchored by John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose, a 17-screen Vue cinema, and the UK’s largest casino operated by Aspers.
There is a total of 250 shops, 70 cafes and restaurants and three hotels, serving a catchment of over 4 million people. Three quarters of all visitors to the Olympics are expected to walk directly through the centre on their way from the transport hubs to the Park.
The scheme was officially opened today by Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Westfield Group chairman Frank Lowry. Pixie Geldof and Nick Grimshaw hosted the opening event which ended with a performance by chart-topping singer Nicole Scherzinger. And Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport addressed the VIP reception.
Lowry said: “We are immensely proud of this world-class shopping centre which is the culmination of over 50 years’ experience and firmly cements our position in the UK market which we entered just over 10 years ago. The project has been delivered on time, on budget and over 95 per cent leased at opening.”
Westfield own 50 per cent of the scheme, and APG of the Netherlands and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board own the remaining 50 per cent.
