Housing association completes second major shopping centre purchase as part of town centre regeneration strategy
Sovereign has completed the £17.6m purchase of a shopping centre in Hampshire for a 350-home development.
The 61,000-home association has acquired Princes Mead shopping centre in Farnborough and two adjacent sites from Knight Frank Investment Management, which was acting for Local Pensions Partnership Investments.
Sovereign said the purchase will allow it to bring forward a residential-led, mixed-use project on the site to deliver 350 homes.
The purchase is the second time Sovereign has bought a major shopping centre site, following the October 2020 purchase of Clifton Down shopping centre in Bristol for £27.2m with an eye to a future mixed-use development on the site.
A key plank of Sovereign’s corporate strategy is to “regenerate high streets and support communities in town centres” while looking for opportunities to drive returns from commercial development to support affordable house building.
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Tom Titherington, chief investment & development officer at Sovereign said: “As our high streets evolve, it becomes increasingly important for forward-thinking housing associations such as Sovereign to take a proactive role in regenerating our town centres, supporting our customers through the delivery of affordable homes and the successful re-imagination of our high streets.”
The planned development at Princes Mead will be part of a wider 1,000-home regeneration plan for Farnborough town centre, being brought forward by Rushmoor Borough Council and its joint venture with housebuilder Hill Group’s investment partnerships arm.
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