Following a competitive bidding process, U+I and Transport for London have selected Landsec as their financial partner for The Liberty development.
Landsec, which acquired U+I in December 2021, has paid £54.7m for the land, giving it 100% ownership of The Liberty. The scheme will move into Landsec’s Central London Office Portfolio and augment its existing Southwark pipeline including The Forge, Red Lion Court and Timber Square.
The work on site can now go ahead and is expected to complete in 2024.
Mike Hood, Managing Director of U+I, commented: “In partnership with TfL, we have developed a vision for The Liberty of Southwark that will transform an under-utilised space to into an imaginative, thriving mixed-use place that will benefit all the people who will live in, work in and visit it. Securing funding is a crucial step forward in realising the potential for this scheme.”
Scott Anderson, Head of Property Development at TfL, added: “We look forward to working with our partners to deliver a sustainable and inclusive development that will have opportunities for small or medium businesses, as well as new homes and new public spaces for Southwark and London. This development is part of our overall portfolio strategy to create sustainable commercial income for TfL, which can be then used to reinvest in the transport network and new homes for London.”
Mark Allan, CEO of Landsec, added: “This deal is another example of Landsec’s strategy in action, recycling capital into higher return opportunities. This is also a great first opportunity for us to fund a project in U+I’s portfolio following our acquisition of the company in December 2021. We said at the time that the acquisition would allow us to accelerate our strategy, and that’s exactly what we are doing.”
U+I and TfL were advised by Gowling WLG and Savills. Landsec was advised by Pinsent Mason.