The European real estate company Hammerson has beaten Westfield to the post for development of the Whitgift Centre in Croydon. 

Westfield have until now been snapping up every huge shopping center opportunity that has been coming their way but it seems Hammerson might have had their eye on the ball a little more this time.

Hammerson will manage, regenerate and expand Croydon’s Whitgift Shopping Centre in South London.

Hammerson are behind other projects like the Bullring in Birmingham and Highcross in Leicester.

In the joint statement, RLAM & IBRC Assurance Company commented: ‘The Whitgift Centre lies at the heart of Croydon and its successful redevelopment will be a crucial element in the regeneration of the town itself. This consideration underlined every step of our rigorous process of selecting the best partner for the job.

The quality of submissions from all parties was very high, although in Hammerson we recognised a partner who could demonstrate a long-term commitment to reasserting Croydon as a centre of retail excellence through a combination of redevelopment and organic growth. Of equal importance, Hammerson possess the necessary resources to complete a project of this scale successfully.’

Currently, the Whitgift Centre has approx 580,000 sq ft of retail floorspace with 154 shop units, several department stores and a supermarket, and attracts around 28 million shoppers annually.

Find more fashion here.

Find us where you’re at, follow us on Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest / Tumblr