The British Land Company plc : Planning Application for 100,000 Sq Ft Extension to Surrey Quays Shopping Centre Submitted

13 January 2012

Planning Application for 100,000 Sq Ft Extension to Surrey Quays Shopping Centre Submitted

Surrey Quays Limited (a joint venture between British Land and Tesco) has announced plans for a 100,000 sq ft (9,290 sq m) extension to Surrey Quays Shopping Centre at Canada Water on the Rotherhithe Peninsula in South East London. In addition, it is proposed to undertake the extensive refurbishment of the 309,000 sq ft (28,707 sq m) existing shopping centre.

The new extension will sit in front of the existing entrances to the shopping centre and provide 18 new shops and restaurants plus four new kiosk units. Space for outdoor dining will also be created. The existing shopping centre will remain fully open for the duration of the extension's construction.

The application represents a £31 million investment in Surrey Quays. 500 permanent positions will be created on opening, in addition to a significant number of temporary jobs during the construction period.

A three month public exhibition which took place between September and November has informed the final application. 90% of the public responses supported the proposal. If approved, it is anticipated that work will start on site in winter 2012 with completion scheduled for spring 2014.

£3 million of improvements will also be made to the public spaces around the centre and connections to Surrey Quays and Canada Water tube and bus stations. In addition, connectivity across the site will be improved with enhanced accessibility prioritising pedestrians and cyclists.

Richard Wise, Head of Retail Development for British Land, said: "These plans demonstrate our continued commitment to Surrey Quays Shopping Centre, the wider Canada Water regeneration and Rotherhithe.

"As well as creating new jobs and local investment and improving travel connections and public areas, the extension and refurbishment will enable us to attract and accommodate new and exciting retailers which are not currently represented in the area."

The planning application represents the first phase of an illustrative masterplan that has been prepared for the whole of the shopping centre site. The future phases of the masterplan will release the full potential of the site through introducing a mix of uses, including residential, commercial and further retail development. The masterplan will be brought forward over the next 10 to 15 years in response to market opportunities.

The shopping centre is in close proximity to the recently opened Canada Water library. Designed by Piers Gough, partner at CZWG Architects, the library is a dramatic inverted pyramid that partially overhangs the Canada Water basin.

Surrey Quays Shopping Centre is anchored by Tesco Extra and also comprises 50 major high street retailers including Bhs, River Island, New Look, JD, Boots, Burtons, Dorothy Perkins and Mothercare.

Further details of the proposals and images are available on the consultation website: .

Enquiries:

British Land:

Media

Jackie Whitaker, Retail PR Manager                        020 7467 3449
Pip Wood, Director of Corporate Communications    020 7467 2838
Guy Lamming/Gordon Simpson, Finsbury                020 7251 3801

Investor Relations

Sally Jones, British Land                                         020 7467 2942

Notes to Editors

About British Land                                                                 

British Land is one of Europe's largest Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) with total assets, owned or managed, of £15.6 billion (British Land share £10.2 billion), as valued at 30 September 2011. Through our property and finance expertise we attract experienced partners to create properties and environments which are home to over 1,000 differ ent organisations and visited by over 250 million people each year. Our property portfolio is focused on prime retail locations and Central London offices which attract high quality occupiers committed to long leases. Our occupancy rate of 98% and average lease length to first break of 12 years are among the highest of the major UK REITs.

Retail assets account for 62% of our portfolio, over 80% of which are located at prime out-of-town sites. Comprising around 27 million sq ft of retail space across 91 retail warehouse properties, 99 superstores, 12 shopping centres and 10 department stores, the retail portfolio is generally modern, flexible and adaptable to a wide range of formats. Active asset management delivers attractive space to both retailers and consumers.

London offices, located in the City and West End, comprise 33% of the portfolio (rising to an estimated 37% on completion of current developments) with 7 million sq ft of office space including Broadgate, the premier City office campus (50% share) and Regent's Place in the West End. We are investing £1.1 billion to create Central London's largest committed office development programme which will deliver 2.2 million sq ft of high quality space by 2014, including a 700,000 sq ft building at 5 Broadgate, the 610,000 sq ft Leadenhall Building in London's insurance district and a 500,000 sq ft mixed office and residential scheme at Regent's Place in the West End.

Our size and substance demands a responsible approach to business and we focus on five areas which matter most to us and our key stakeholders: managing buildings efficiently; developing sustainable buildings; enhancing biodiversity; exceeding customers' expectations and focusing on local communities. We believe leadership on issues such as sustainability helps drive our performance and is core to our corporate aim of building the best REIT in Europe.