Hammerson has exchanged an agreement with South Oxfordshire District Council to extend its existing 2011 development agreement for the expansion of Didcot’s Orchard Centre.
The £50 million mixed-use extension will add an additional 150,000 sq ft to the 200,000 sq ft retail and leisure destination which opened in 2005. The development would provide space for stores, restaurants, cafés, public space and a car park to be owned and managed by the Council.
A detailed planning application for the proposed extension was submitted to the Council in February and validated in March. It is expected to be considered by the Council’s planning committee this summer.
The 2011 development agreement included the provision of a residential element which will now be brought forward by the Council together with a specialist partner.
Russell Beresford, Development Manager at Hammerson, said: “The extension of the successful Orchard Centre will play an important part in the future growth of Didcot and the wider Science Vale area.
“Extending the development agreement reconfirms Hammerson’s and the Council’s commitment to delivering this scheme.”
In a separate announcement Hammerson has confirmed that luxury French fashion retailer, Sandro, is to join the occupier line-up at Victoria Quarter in Leeds.
The aspirational brand has agreed terms on a 564 sq ft store on County Arcade in the Grade II listed Victorian building.
Sandro has 452 stores worldwide, including 24 in the UK, but the agreement will mark the brand’s debut in Yorkshire when the store opens later this year.
Sandro, which was launched in 1984 by designers Didier and Evelyne Chétrite, has established itself as the epitome of French chic, with its focus on style, elegance and Parisian poise, making it the perfect fit for the North’s most luxurious shopping destination.
Kate Orwin, Assitant Director of Retail Asset Management at Hammerson, commented: “Sandro is the perfect addition to Victoria Quarter for our fashion-focused customers and complements both our existing retailers and our new brands, Cutler & Gross and Séraphine.
“Sandro’s new store contributes to the growth of our luxury shopping mix, thereby continuing to offer more to our Victoria Quarter shoppers.”
