Shopping centre real estate investment trust (Reit) Hammerson (HMSO) is on the verge of selling its 50 per cent stake in a major Croydon shopping centre redevelopment project to its joint venture partner Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (AU:URW).
Investors' Chronicle can reveal that URW is close to acquiring full ownership of the project, which has been in limbo ever since the planning permission to develop another Westfield shopping centre on the site expired in 2021. Sources close to the deal said that it was just waiting on the final paperwork before concluding the deal.
The project has been in doubt ever since the expiry of planning permission, but in a recent Sunday Times interview URW hinted that the project could be reimagined as a smaller development.
In its most recent results, Hammerson said how it wanted to "accelerate" the building of its various development projects, but there was no detail on what its plans for Croydon were.
Hammerson and URW have been contacted for comment.
