NewRiver chosen to develop 66-acre leisure park in Basingstoke: NewRiver has been appointed by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council as its nominated developer to bring forward the risk-controlled redevelopment of a 66 acre leisure park in a prominent location in Basingstoke in close proximity to junction 6 of the M3 motorway. Capitalising on the growing popularity of integrated leisure and retail, NewRiver’s proposals currently comprise approximately 500,000 square foot of leisure and approximately 200,000 sq ft of designer outlet shopping. The company is confident that this unique combination of leisure and designer outlet shopping will appeal to the local community and a catchment significantly beyond Basingstoke in one of the UK’s most affluent regions. This opportunity will be progressed in line with NewRiver’s risk-controlled development approach and stated financial policies. To facilitate this very exciting development, the council and NewRiver have entered into a long-term development agreement which is conditional on achieving planning consent and pre-lets as well as a viability assessment. In the event that the development agreement becomes unconditional, the council will grant NewRiver a 250 year leasehold interest. Outline plans for the leisure facilities include the introduction of exciting new leisure experiences for families and the wider community with a cinema, popular family restaurants and hotel. Plans also include a modern aquatic leisure centre with gym, to be operated by the council, and a designer outlet village which will focus on designer brands at affordable prices and complement the existing town centre retail offer. The project is estimated to generate over 2,000 jobs and set to create an outstanding leisure and designer-outlet shopping destination of choice for the south of England, contributing to the long-term vision of Basingstoke as a leading town in the region. The council is presently working towards the delivery of 15,000 new homes for the borough by 2029. Customary for a development of this size, early concepts and designs will be subject to a programme of extensive community engagement and on-site works could begin from 2023, subject to planning consent.

Easyhotel secures Cambridge lease: Easyhotel, the owner, developer and operator of “super budget” branded hotels, has signed a 25-year lease on a site in the city of Cambridge, for the development of a new purpose-built Easyhotel. The agreement is subject to planning permission. Located on Newmarket Road, the site is situated less than one mile from Cambridge City Centre. The site is to be developed into a new purpose-built 100-room Easyhotel. The hotel is expected to open in 2019. Cambridge will be the group’s third leased site. The hotel will be let on a 25-year FRI (fully repairing and insuring) lease at an annual rent of approximately £625,000. The hotel will be developed by MP Merchant, in line with Easyhotel’s specifications. Guy Parsons, chief executive of Easyhotel, said: “Having recently completed a successful fundraising to fund the acceleration of our owned hotel portfolio, this announcement is a clear signal of our intent and ambition to expand our development pipeline, targeting popular business and leisure city centre locations. The Cambridge site takes Easyhotel’s pipeline of owned/leased development projects to 1,041 rooms, adding one of the UK’s most thriving and popular cities to our network. The board looks forward to announcing further opportunities in due course.”