LGIM Real Assets (Legal & General) has purchased Stafford's Waterfront Leisure scheme for £9.9 million.

The scheme was bought on behalf of its Leisure Fund (the "Fund") from developer LXB Retail Properties.

The Leisure Fund has deployed £90m this year into new leisure developments in areas where existing provision is lacking, creating new jobs and contributing to the growth of the local economy.

Waterfront Leisure is a 50,642 sq ft development comprising seven units, fronting the River Sow.

It has been purchased with 50% of units pre-let, by square foot, with restaurant space currently leased to Nando's and Frankie & Benny's on 15 year terms. It is anchored by the first purpose built Odeon Luxe Cinema under a 25 year lease agreement.

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Andrew Ferguson, Senior Fund Manager of Legal & General, said: "This is a positive addition to the Fund, once again providing the opportunity to revitalise our towns with schemes fit for today's environment and spending habits. As with our other leisure schemes, it provides an attractive yield profile with strong and dynamic anchor tenants.

"As a whole, there is now a real momentum in the leisure sector as consumers crave new experiences. Operators are expanding to meet this demand whilst a breadth of new innovative concepts are coming to market, offering everything from new luxury cinemas to virtual reality and a breadth of competitive socialising concepts. As we look towards 2019 and beyond, we have increasing appetite for further new development deals, in areas which lack sufficient provision for today's consumer. These allow us to shape the operator profile and provide schemes which are targeted to changing dynamics, allowing us to bring a new and sought after offering to the UK's towns and cities."

(CM)