29th Jan 2014 12:37
LONDON (Alliance News) - LXB Retail Properties PLC Wednesday said it has exchanged contracts with high street favourite Primark for 60,000 square feet of space on a 15 year lease at its Banbury Gateway retail investment which is currently subject to a legal dispute.
Last month, the High Court dismissed claims by Scottish Widows and Aegon for a judicial review of planning permission granted for the proposed project. The claims had been brought on a number of grounds, all of which were dismissed by the High Court.
However, the two firms have now filed notices in the Court of Appeal seeking permission to appeal against the decision of the Hight Court, but only in relation to one of the issues - that the council failed to secure appropriate Section 106 agreements.
Despite this, the firm has continued to sign contracts with various retailers including Next and River Island. The financial terms of the Primark deal have not been disclosed.
The group hopes to gain planning permission and obtain vacant possession to allow work to begin on site by early 2015.
LXB said it has also exchanged contracts with Arcadia for the pre-letting of a 16,000 square foot store at the A1 Shopping Park in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. Pre-lets with retailers M&S, Next and Matalan have already been signed.
Demolition work to clear the site and enable the first phase has now been completed, and construction is expected to commence in late March 2014.
In South East London, the planning committee of the Royal Borough of Greenwich resolved to grant Open A1 retail planning consent for a proposed 4 unit scheme comprising up to 159,985 square feet.
The retail scheme will replace the recently vacated Matalan store at Bugsby's Way and the Brocklebank industrial estate. Negotiations are ongoing with a number of the remaining tenants on the industrial estate regarding relocation within the Borough.
The resolution is subject to signing a Section 106 agreement.
A council can enter into a Section 106 agreement, otherwise known as a planning obligation, with a developer where it deems it necessary to provide contributions to offset negative impacts causes by construction and development. Examples of contributions range from the provision of affordable homes and new open space to funding of school places or employment training schemes.
Planning permission has also been given for a retail development in Sutton, South West London, currently consisting of a mix of empty offices, warehousing and two gas holders.
On completion, the group's investment will include a 123,000 square foot foodstore, pre-let to Sainsbury's, 27,500 sq ft of further retail space and 186 residential units.
LXB said it is in the process of preparing tenders for the demolition of the existing buildings and remediation of the site with those works likely to commence in March.
The stock was trading at 127.50 pence Wednesday, untraded.
By Anthony Tshibangu; [email protected]; @AnthonyAllNews
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