Westfield eyes third London mega mall

Westfield is in exclusive talks with a major landowner in Croydon about creating a third ‘mega mall’ in London.

In a statement to the Australian stock exchange, the developer confirmed it had entered exclusive arrangements with the Whitgift Foundation – the freehold owner of Croydon’s 1,302,444ft² Whitgift shopping centre.

Westfield said it will look to take “the same approach” in Croydon as it did with its existing malls in White City, west London and Stratford, east London.

It added the scheme had the potential to serve more than 3m customers in south London, Surrey, Kent, Hampshire, East Sussex and West Sussex.

Whitgift Shopping Centre has already been earmarked for expansion by the London Borough of Croydon, as part of its ‘Croydon Vision 2020’ regeneration programme.

Westfield said: “The [Croydon] market is currently under-served by high quality retail and leisure facilities and is well known to be a target market for major retail groups in the UK.

“The redevelopment of Croydon is subject to planning consent and concluding satisfactory agreements with key stakeholders. The Whitgift Foundation has agreed to work exclusively with Westfield with a view to satisfying these requirements.”