British Land : acquires the Woolwich Estate in south east London for £103 million

09 Feb 2018

British Land is pleased to announce that it has acquired the Woolwich Estate, covering 4.9 acres in south east London for a headline price £103 million representing a net initial yield of 4.1%.

This acquisition is in line with our strategy of focusing on well-connected, mixed use assets which meet the evolving needs of our occupiers and their customers. It builds on our portfolio of places benefitting from the Elizabeth Line, including Broadgate, Paddington Central and Ealing Broadway, and provides significant potential to drive growth and returns through our placemaking, asset management and development expertise. It makes an exciting addition to our existing portfolio of Local retail centres, which provide convenience-led shopping for local communities.

The Woolwich estate covers 360,000 sq ft of space in central Woolwich. Predominantly retail, it includes over 50,000 sq ft of residential and 3,000 sq ft of office space. The area is already benefitting from significant regeneration, led by the Elizabeth Line which launches from Woolwich in December 2018 reducing journey times to Canary Wharf and Bond Street to 8 and 22 minutes respectively. To coincide with this, 6,000 new homes have been built or are in the pipeline. The estate is currently 95% occupied, with an average lease length of under four years, and average rent of £17 psf, providing British Land with an attractive opportunity to strengthen the offer and mix in line with the improving catchment.

Charles Maudsley, Head of Retail, Leisure & Residential at British Land, said: 'This acquisition provides a unique opportunity to create a thriving retail-anchored centre, benefitting from a mix of uses in an exciting, increasingly well connected and rapidly regenerating part of London. We have a long term vision for the estate which will deliver space that works for retailers and their customers; which generates clear benefits for local communities and drives value for British Land.

Across our London campuses and our multi-let retail properties, we have developed a clear and distinct advantage in managing mixed use environments with development potential, and in enhancing and enlivening our space through placemaking. This acquisition plays very well to those skills.'

The Woolwich Estate comprises 56 retail units and has footfall of 6 million. It benefits from an improving local demographic with over 40% of residents falling within the top three most affluent groups, per CACI consumer classification. Coinciding with the arrival of the Elizabeth Line, Greenwich Council are investing £31 million to deliver a new 'Creative District' which will transform five historic buildings into theatre and concert space, with offices and restaurants.

Notes to Editors

About British Land
Our portfolio of high quality UK commercial property is focused on Retail around the UK and London Offices. We own or manage a portfolio valued at £18.1 billion (British Land share: £13.5 billion) as at 30 September 2017 making us one of Europe's largest listed real estate investment companies.

Our strategy is to provide places which meet the needs of our customers and respond to changing lifestyles - Places People Prefer. We do this by creating great environments both inside and outside our buildings and use our scale and placemaking skills to enhance and enliven them. This expands their appeal to a broader range of occupiers, creating enduring demand and driving sustainable, long term performance.

Our Retail portfolio is focused on Regional and Local multi-let centres, and accounts for 49% of our portfolio. Our Offices portfolio comprises three office-led campuses in central London as well as high quality standalone buildings and accounts for 49% of our portfolio. Increasingly our focus is on providing a mix of uses and this is most evident at Canada Water, our 46 acre redevelopment opportunity where we have plans to create a new neighbourhood for London.

Sustainability is embedded throughout our business. Our places, which are designed to meet high sustainability standards, become part of local communities, provide opportunities for skills development and employment and promote wellbeing. Our industry-leading sustainability performance led to British Land being awarded a five star rating in the 2017 Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark for the second year running.

In April 2016 British Land received the Queen's Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development, the UK's highest accolade for business success for economic, social and environmental achievements over a period of five years.

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

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