September 11, 2019
Pan-European real estate investment manager Redevco has, on behalf of one of its investors, acquired the White Lion Walk covered shopping arcade with 23 retail units in Guildford in the UK from Aviva Investors. The purchase price was around £12 million.
Andrew Vaughan, CEO at Redevco, said: “White Lion Walk is strategically located in the centre of
Guildford and connects the town’s two main retail pitches, which means it benefits from a naturally
high footfall of passing shoppers. Redevco plans to modernise the arcade, which is already well positioned
for redevelopment, to make it a more attractive shopping environment and curate a more exciting tenant mix. This is in line with our strategy of only investing in areas where we can add value by creating good quality retail space that serves the needs of the local community.”
Guildford is an affluent market town in the county of Surrey, 44 kms (27 miles) to the southwest of
London and benefits from excellent transport links making it a very popular commuter destination. The
town is categorised as ‘Very Good’ under Redevco’s ‘City Attractiveness Index’ of European retail
destinations and is ranked at 19th among UK cities.
Guildford’s total retail catchment population is 5.5 million people, while its local shopping population is
240,869, making the town 58th nationally, for a comparison goods spend estimated at £935 million.
The catchment is forecast to experience above average population growth of 8.0% between 2014 –
2024.
Green & Partners and CMS advised Redevco on the transaction.
