Legal & General Capital (LGC), working in partnership with Legal & General Property (LGP), has acquired a 50% stake in a business development site in East Leeds.

L&G has entered into a joint venture (JV) with Scarborough Group for the acquisition of Thorpe Park Leeds, a 200 acre mixed-use site.

The JV will deliver phase two of the development, which has consent for a 1.35m sq ft mixed-use scheme.

Thorpe Park Leeds is set to create a further 13,000 local jobs, while potentially unlocking the construction of 7,000 new homes in the East Leeds area via the development of the East Leeds Orbital Road.

Overall, L&G is committing £162m to the regeneration project.


The deal represents the first project to be delivered since the start of L&G's Regeneration Investment Organisation (RIO) partnership launched at 10 Downing Street in January.

LGC has purchased a 50% stake in Thorpe Park and committed to provide the finance required to develop it over a phased five year period.

Scarborough has been involved with Thorpe Park Leeds for over 20 years, having successfully built and sold the first phase of the scheme.

The real estate investor will act as development manager on the project.

This year, Scarborough received planning consent for the first 60,000 sq ft of offices and consent for 300 new homes on the site.

Simon Marshall, Senior Executive at Scarborough Group, said: "This new partnership with Legal & General will be transformational for the delivery of Thorpe Park and is testament to the quality and potential of this market- leading regeneration project.

"We believe that this scheme is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for East Leeds. In partnership with Legal & General and with the Council's on-going support, we are confident that we can create a truly unique and forward thinking mixed-use community that will contribute hugely to the economic prosperity of the area, creating new jobs, homes and facilities for East Leeds."

(LM)