Kings Mall

Background

Ingka Centres, the parent company of Ikea recently announced their global strategy to deliver city centre meeting places, a move which will take the global retail empire away from their traditional out of town outlets to city centre locations. The principal aim is to design new Ikea stores in urban places which provide more than traditional retail centres. The end result will provide a mixed use development, including offices, housing, entertainment and restaurants, creating a new community ‘meeting place’.

Strategy

JLL worked with Ingka Centres to develop their London strategy and identify suitable shopping centre opportunities across the city. The acquisition, which would represent Ingka Centres first shopping centre investment in the UK, was an important milestone in their global strategy.

The JLL team were able to unlock the opportunity at Kings Mall, Hammersmith. JLL worked closely with the team at Ingka Centres to understand their vision for the centre and Schroders to complete detailed asset due diligence. JLL were able to provide an all-inclusive service incorporating numerous teams from across the business including shopping centre management, retail leasing, planning, cost consultancy
and car park consulting.

Results

JLL effectively sourced and managed an off-market transaction to achieve a result that allows Ingka Centres to fulfil their principal aim of delivering a city centre meeting place with excellent regeneration opportunities. In addition, JLL have been successful in retaining the shopping centre management and have recently been appointed as leasing agents on the scheme.