British Land snaps up shopping centre in Ealing

British Land has expanded its London portfolio with the purchase of a number of properties from Dutch real estate group Weraldhave, including the Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre.

The acquired portfolio cost the FTSE 100 company £183.8m, with the Ealing retail asset being worth £142.5m alone.

It has 300,000 square feet of retail and leisure space, 800 car parking spaces and a multi-let office over a 7.5-acre site.

"Ealing Broadway is an attractive convenient shopping destination in West London, well located in the centre of Ealing and close to the train and tube station," British Land said.

The firm added that the shopping centre "dominates" the retail offer in the town centre with an annual footfall of around 15m. Of the 1.6m people who live in the area, over a third are in the key retail spending group of 25-44 year olds, the firm added.

British Land's Head of Retail Charles Maudsley said: "We are delighted to have bought Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre. It is a highly attractive retail destination which meets the needs of today's consumers for convenient, well-located shopping.

"We believe there are significant opportunities to grow and develop the shopping centre as a retail destination both as we further improve the retail mix and increase the leisure offer and as the area benefits from residential development and the completion of Crossrail."

The rest of the acquired portfolio includes five retail and office properties in Baker Street, Chiswick High Road, Putney High Street, Fulham Road and Great Portland Street, which were bought for £41.3m.