British Land: New lettings further strengthen the retail, leisure and F&B offer at Fort Kinnaird, Edinburgh

LONDON, UK, 2017-Oct-12 — /EPR Retail News/ — The Gibraltar Limited Partnership has announced thirteen new lettings and an additional four re-gears totalling more than 135,000 sq ft including mezzanine space at Fort Kinnaird, Edinburgh. British Land is property advisor to the Gibraltar Limited Partnership.

The new lettings further strengthen the retail, leisure and F&B offer at the centre and include:

• JD Sports is doubling in size with a new 10,000 sq ft store on a 10 year lease
• Schuh and Schuh Kids will complement the centre’s existing fashion offer with a new 5,000 sq ft store on a 10 year lease
• Waterstones has opened a new 3,800 sq ft café concept store on a 10 year lease
• Office has signed for a new 2,500 sq ft store on a 10 year lease
• Starbucks is to open a new format café in a bespoke 2,500 sq ft unit on a 10 year lease
• Card Factory is moving within the scheme and has signed for a new 2,300 sq ft store on a five year lease
• O2 will be relocating to a new 2,000 sq ft store on a five year lease
• Tui has signed for a new 1,700 sq ft store on a 10 year lease
• Currys PC World is upsizing to a new regional flagship store over 39,500 sq ft (ground and mezzanine) on a 10 year lease
• Pure Gym is to open a new 20,000 sq ft gym over two levels on a 10 year lease
• Oak Furniture Land has opened its second Edinburgh store with 18,000 sq ft (ground and mezzanine) on a 10 year lease
• Wilko continues its UK expansion with a new 10,700 sq ft store on a 10 year lease
• Tapi Carpets has taken 5,300 sq ft on a 10 year lease.

In addition to the new lettings, a number of retailers have demonstrated their commitment to Fort Kinnaird by extending their leases, including Perfume Shop (10 years), Vision Express (10 years), Clarks (five years), and Carphone Warehouse (three years).

James Varley, Asset Manager for British Land, said: “The scale of these lettings, with a number of leading brands choosing to locate their flagship stores with us, is a great endorsement of the work we have done at Fort Kinnaird to enhance the environment for our customers. Our understanding of the way people shop, grounded in data analytics, is enabling us to respond to their needs with a targeted retail and leisure mix, as well as space to relax and be entertained.”

Fort Kinnaird has seen footfall increase and trading hours extended since the opening of a 57,000 sq ft leisure quarter and a bespoke 39,000 sq ft Primark. The leisure quarter, featuring a seven screen Odeon cinema and a range of restaurants, has also extended the centre’s catchment and average dwell time.

Fort Kinnaird is ranked first in its category by Trevor Wood Associates (Going Shopping 2017) and second in its category in Scotland according to CACI.

Fort Kinnaird has a catchment of 840,000 people and features 66 leading shopping and leisure brands including Primark, Odeon, Next, River Island, Boots and Currys.

British Land is Property Adviser to HUT and Crestbridge Hercules Management IC is the Manager.

The Gibraltar Limited Partnership was advised by Eric Young & Co and Paradigm Property Consultants.

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 £19.1 billion (British Land share: £13.9 billion) as at 31 March 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 48% 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.

About The Gibraltar Limited Partnership 
The Gibraltar Limited Partnership is a 50/50 joint venture between Hercules Unit Trust (HUT) and The Crown Estate (www.thecrownestate.co.uk). The partnership also owns Gallagher retail centre in Cheltenham.

About Hercules Unit Trust
Hercules Unit Trust (HUT) is a Jersey-based closed-ended property unit trust with a fixed life which has been extended to 2020, and is subject to further extension with unit holder consent. HUT’s primary investment focus is major retail properties in the United Kingdom and, in particular, those properties that offer a critical mass of retailing and, where possible, have the benefit of Open A1 planning consent. As at 31 March 2017, we own 76% of the fund.

HUT is the UK’s largest specialist retail warehouse property unit trust. As at 31 March 2017, the Trust owned and managed 12 regional and local centres, including Glasgow Fort and 50% of Fort Kinnaird in Edinburgh, providing in total around 3.5 million sq ft of space. Key tenants include Primark, Next, Boots, M&S, Arcadia, H&M, New Look, JD Sports and TK Maxx.

British Land is Property Adviser to HUT and Crestbridge Hercules Management IC is the Manager.

About Crestbridge Hercules Management IC
Crestbridge Hercules Management IC is a cell company subsidiary of Crestbridge Management ICC, part of the Crestbridge group of companies. Crestbridge is an independent provider of administration, management and corporate governance services. Crestbridge Hercules Management IC is regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission.

SOURCE: British Land