Investment firm commits £162m to Thorpe Park
A PARTNERSHIP has been formed that will see Legal & General Capital, in addition to its property arm, acquire a 50% stake in the Thorpe Park business development.
The firm intends to commit £162m to the ongoing development of the site
The L&G partnership will be undertaking a joint venture with developers Scarborough Group International at the 8.71 million sq ft mixed-use site in East Leeds.
The joint venture will deliver phase two of the site, which will involve a 1.35 million sq ft mixed-use scheme.
Thorpe Park Leeds is set to create a further 13,000 jobs. There are also plans in the pipeline for 7,000 new homes in the area as the East Leeds Orbital Road is developed.
Laura Mason, director of Direct Investments at Legal & General Capital, said: “Leeds has done an outstanding job in completing the first RIO deal with L&G.
“L&G’s investment in Thorpe Park also highlights to international investors the attractiveness of working with local partners to access high-quality investment opportunities in other parts of the UK which they may not have previously explored.”
Simon Marshall, senior executive at Scarborough Group, said: “This new partnership with Legal & General will be transformational for the delivery of Thorpe Park and is testament to the quality and potential of this market-leading regeneration project.
“We believe that this scheme is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for East Leeds. In partnership with Legal & General and with the Council’s on-going support, we are confident that we can create a truly unique and forward thinking mixed-use community that will contribute hugely to the economic prosperity of the area, creating new jobs, homes and facilities for East Leeds.”
Councillor Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council, said: “The investment by Legal & General is excellent news for the development of Thorpe Park and for the regeneration of Leeds. The impact of this project will be transformational for the local region, creating thousands of new homes and jobs, and reinventing the landscape of East Leeds.”
This deal is the first to be delivered since the beginning of L&G’s Regeneration Investment Organisation partnership launched at 10 Downing Street in January, in which L&G committed to co-invest £1.5bn into RIO pipeline projects.
They have been working with other institutions and investors such as UKTI to attract an additional £15bn of investment in UK regeneration works.
