Developer in talks to sell city shopping centres for £120m

Hammerson the developer behind the Victoria Gate and Victoria Quarter shopping centres in Leeds has confirmed it is in discussion to sell them.

In a statement issued this morning following speculation over the weekend the property business said it was in discussions with entities related to Redical Holdings AG on the sale of its Leeds-based schemes.

Victoria Gate opened in 2016 and was described at the time as a “game changer” for the city centre, going on to take home the title of Best Shopping Centre in the World at MIPIM 2017.

However in March last year developer Hammerson highlighted how hard it had been hit by the pandemic with it experiencing “the largest fall in net rental income and UK asset values in the Group’s history”.

As a result in a statement Hammerson has reaffirmed its strategy to realign its portfolio to focus on prime urban estates and dispose of “non-core assets, to strengthen the balance sheet, and to re-cycle capital into its core portfolio and its development pipeline”.

The developer added that despite discussions with Redical Holdings, “there can be no certainty that a transaction will take place”.