Legal & General Capital (LGC), in partnership with Legal & General Property (LGP), has acquired a 50% stake in Thorpe Park Leeds, a 200-acre mixed-use business development site in East Leeds with expansion plans.
Legal & General has formed a joint venture (JV) with Scarborough Group International, the original developer of the site.
The joint venture will deliver phase two of Thorpe Park Leeds which has consent for a 1.35 million square feet mixed-use scheme. The development is also expected to pave the way for the construction of 7,000 new homes in East Leeds through the construction of the first section of the East Leeds Orbital Road.
LGC has committed to provide the finance required to expand Thorpe Park over a phased five-year period. This year Scarborough Group received planning consent for the first 60,000 sq ft of offices and consent for 300 new homes on the site.
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Scarborough Group senior executive Simon Marshall 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.”
Laura Mason, director of direct investments at Legal & General Capital, said: “This major development will help bring the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ to life, supporting the wider Leeds economy and acting as a major catalyst for further investment in the UK’s cities and regions. Providing an excellent match for our long term money, we have worked in close partnership with our property asset management arm, regeneration specialist partners and the public sector to complete this transaction.”
The deal represents the first project to be delivered since the start of L&G’s Regeneration Investment Organisation (RIO) partnership in January. L&G has committed to co-invest £1.5bn into RIO pipeline projects alongside capital from other investors from the UK and overseas.
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