Revamp plans for Croydon’s Whitgift Centre expanded

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 24, 2016

Australian mall giant Westfield and UK-based partner Hammerson have jointly submitted a new, enhanced planning application for the £1.4bn revamp of Croydon’s Whitgift shopping centre on the outskirts of Greater London.

The company, which has focused its UK investments on the London area, has a joint venture with Hammerson called the Croydon Partnership. It aims to transform the already-shopping focused Croydon area into a one of the country’s leading retail and entertainment destinations.

The new plans include more than 140,000 sq m of retail and leisure space with an extra floor of stores and restaurants added to the previously-submitted application. There will also be a new Marks & Spencer flagship to replace the company’s existing store.

There had been concerns that the development would be scaled back following Britain’s vote to leave the EU but the opposite has turned out to be true, despite several delays to the development.

After the initial plans were unveiled in 2013, work had been due to start this year with a completion date of 2019. However, it now seems likely that the start will be delayed until 2017 or even 2018 with the larger revamped centre to be ready in 2021.