News

Shopping mall site sold for £72m

Report by James Cracknell

Edmonton Green Shopping Centre
Edmonton Green Shopping Centre was built in the late 1960s and early 1970s – then extended in the 2000s

Edmonton Green Shopping Centre has been sold to a property investment firm for £72million.

Crosstree Real Estate Partners bought the town-centre site from previous owners St Modwen, which had itself bought it from Enfield Council in the 1990s.

Crosstree already owns retail property in Soho, Mayfair, and at the O2 Arena in Greenwich, but now wants to exploit “growth opportunities in outer London”.

Edmonton Green Shopping Centre was built in the late 1960s and early 1970s and is regarded as an example of the period’s brutalist architecture. In 1999 the leasehold for the site was sold by the council to St Modwen, while the homes in the tower blocks were transferred to a partnership between Metropolitan Housing Trust (now called Metropolitan Thames Valley) and London and Quadrant (L&Q).

Matt Mason, director of Crosstree, said: “We are excited to play our part in the improvement of this community-focused retail centre and to help create a thriving town centre and neighbourhood.

“We are committed to the long-term future of Edmonton Green and look forward to working with the council and local community to support the growth and prosperity of this strategically important site within Enfield.”

Edmonton MP Kate Osamor said the sale has “potential to be positive” but also warned: “Understandably, shopkeepers and local residents have some trepidation about what the change of ownership will mean. Tenants are hoping to learn more soon about the new owners and their plans for the shopping centre.

“Of greatest anxiety, tenants are concerned about the content of future leases, what kind of relationship will be on offer from Crosstree and whether rents will rise. My hope is that tangible steps are taken to help businesses in the shopping centre to flourish.”

In the late 2000s St Modwen undertook a series of regeneration schemes around the shopping centre, building new blocks of flats and a large supermarket, while a new bus station was also built. Explaining the company’s reason for selling the site, property director Rupert Wood said: “This disposal is in line with our strategic objective to refocus our portfolio towards assets with strong structural growth characteristics.”

The Edmonton Green site in total covers ten hectares and includes 754 homes, 123 shops, a daily market, library, community centre, and more than 1,000 car parking spaces. Enfield Council retains the freehold of the site and would make the decision about any redevelopment plan, should it be proposed.

The two housing associations which lease homes in the tower blocks above the shopping centre have offered reassurances to residents.

A spokesperson for housing association Metropolitan Thames Valley said: “The private sale will not affect our legal rights as the leaseholder at three of the site’s residential blocks – or the rights of our residents who live in them.”

An L&Q spokesperson said: “Our residents will not be affected by the sale of Edmonton Green Shopping Centre.”

The council declined to comment.


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