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The prime strategy is to add cinemas and leisure facilities to retail centres to draw more people to the shops.
Intu has begun site clearance for a £178m extension of its Watford shopping centre, to be anchored by Cineworld and Debenhams.
It is finalising pre-lets before starting a £75m redevelopment of Broadmarsh in Nottingham, which is part of a larger £250m makeover, and it is moving forward with a £95m, extension at Lakeside in Thurrock, to add 21,000 m2 of leisure facilities.
“As economic recovery spreads out from London and the south east to the regions, consumer confidence is positive, driving improved retailer demand for space in our centres at a time when new supply of quality retail space is very limited,” said chief executive David Fischel. “Investor interest for prime regional shopping centres remains keen.”
He added: “These factors provide a favourable background for our development programme as we look to introduce the next level of leisure concepts. We expect to undertake around £600m of mixed retail and leisure projects in the next three years in the UK, in particular the Intu Watford extension, and commence our major Spanish shopping resort development, Intu Costa del Sol.”
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